The sons of a hugely popular mum have paid an emotional tribute after her death from cancer. Jayne Fallas, 56, died just days after her diagnosis.
The Llandough Primary School teaching assistant was a much-loved figure in her home village, Wenvoe in the Vale of Glamorgan. Heartbroken family and friends have raised more than £12,000 for Cancer Research Wales in her memory with a bike ride across Wales to take place this summer.
"Everyone I've spoken to has said my mum's smile would light up a room," said her son Dimitri. "She was so caring and loving, and she never had a bad word to say about anyone. I'm 28 but I would still call my mum for a chat on my way to work, and when I was having lunch. She was my world."
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Jayne died on December 6, survived by her husband Bassam and sons Michael and Dimitri. Her funeral was held on Christmas Eve, attended by 157 people. "For that many people to turn up at Christmas was just mind-blowing," said Dimitri. "It shows what kind of person she was."
Bassam, who is from Palestine, met Jayne in 1985 at a restaurant called Luigi's while he was on holiday in Cardiff. Michael, 32, said: "The Palestinians did not have the best standing in the world and times were not as they are today. When he met my mum, he was afraid she would not like him or avoid him because of where he was from, so he told her a little porky. He said his name was Bebe and he was from Italy. Obviously my dad could not keep up this charade and with much trepidation he admitted the truth to my mum about his real name and where he was really from."
The revelation was "like water off a duck's back" to Jayne, said Michael. "She saw my dad without prejudice but as the amazing person he is. This is exactly how she saw each and every person she would meet in life. She was a woman ahead of her time."
The couple married six months after meeting and, after a period living in Jerusalem, they settled in Wenvoe. Dimitri remembers his mum being endlessly devoted to him and Michael as they grew up.
"My mum was on the sideline every Saturday morning to watch me and my brother play football," he added. "Everyone remembers that whatever the weather, rain or snow, my mum was always there.
"She loved football, and watching Man Utd. We'd always make time as a family to be together and watch their games. One of the things I'm gutted about is I never took my mum to a game at Old Trafford, but I think she liked watching the games in her own comfort with her family and a cup of tea."
Jayne overcame breast cancer after being diagnosed in 2017. Dimitri said it was inspirational to see her stay positive as she went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a double mastectomy. After 18 months of treatment she was cancer-free.
"The way she took the diagnosis on board and said 'let's go for it' was absolutely incredible," Dimitri added. "She lost all her hair from the treatment and didn't care. She was as strong as a bull. The four years we then had with her were the most special because we cherished every single moment."
Jayne had pain in her back for six weeks towards the end of last year. Her GP suspected it was a slipped disc. But in late November an MRI scan showed the pain was caused by cancer in her bones.
"We were told it wasn't curable but treatments could manage and control it," said Dimitri. "My mum was raring to go. She was ready to do it all over again. Her attitude was mind-blowing."
Dimitri drove his mum to Cardiff's Velindre cancer centre on Friday, December 3, believing she would be able to return home and start a course of chemotherapy that month. He said: "It's so hard for me to process, even to this day, that I never brought her home.
"We were with her on the Saturday and Sunday, and her health deteriorated massively. It was like she knew she wasn't going to be able to fight it. She was turning yellow and could barely speak but she still had the strength to tell us to have a good Christmas. She was telling me to have a good birthday because mine is on New Year's Eve. I was thinking, 'How can I have a good birthday without you?'
"I physically couldn't be there when she passed away on the Monday, but I was there on the Sunday. I told her I loved her, I kissed her and said I had to leave her. That was my goodbye to my mum. We all have our heroes in life, and for some people it might be a sportsperson or celebrity, but mine was my mum."
Jayne was a teaching assistant at several schools but spent her last year at Llandough primary, which has installed a planter in her memory. "The impact she had there in just a year is amazing," said Dimitri. "She loved working with children. In that last job she worked with a boy who had autism, and she helped him grow into this amazing little boy. He became so confident. When my mum died his parents were devastated. Just reading the card they sent made me cry."
Dimitri and Michael are among 20 of Jayne's loved ones who will cycle the length of Wales — 220 miles from Holyhead to Penarth — in July. The campaign has so far raised £12,280 for Cancer Research Wales. You can donate here.
"I know if my mum was looking down now, she would be proud," said Dimitri. "I feel like what we're doing is helping her live on."
