‘I WANT TO MAKE HER PROUD’
Lucinda Thomas was only 18 and in her last year of high school when her world was shattered. In late 2010, her mum, Coral, was diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer. Tests showed a blood clot caused by a large tumour on her bladder. Her prognosis was terminal.
“I’d turned 18 and was about to do Year 12 exams. I was quite academic, but all that went out the window. I was in a world of pain and couldn’t see the point of exam results. My mum was dying,” she says.
Lucinda and Coral had a close-knit relationship. After Coral became a single mum, she worked nights as a nurse to give Lucinda the best life.
“All my friends wanted Coral to be their mum. She’d pick us up from parties at 3am, and would have our clothes washed and ironed by the time we got up in the morning,” says Lucinda.
A year after her diagnosis, Coral passed away at 52. Lucinda vowed to Coral that she would graduate from university – and she did, studying Business Management. On the day she graduated, Lucinda visited her mother’s plot to share the special achievement. She then went on to build a successful career in honour of her mum.
“I live a lot of my life striving for success for Mum because her life was cut short. I feel Mum’s presence around me. I have her mannerisms and I spray her perfume around me when I need inspiration. I have her photos around my house and a lot of my furniture was Mum’s.”
On Mother’s Day, Lucinda, now 29, visits her mum at Ballarat Cemetery with a glass of champagne to honour her, and she also supports other women who’ve lost their mothers via the Motherless Daughters community.