Natalie had a zest for life.. & lived it large
TUMOUR MUM’S TRIBUTE TO BRAVE DAUGHTER
THE family of a youngng woman who died after ter developing one of the biggest tumoursurs medics had ever seeneen have paid tribute to her “zest for life”.
Natalie Gray, 20, passed assed away at home in Fallin,allin, near Stirling, on May 2 after battling cancer for threee years – though it is thoughtht she may have displayed signsigns of the illness since she wasas 15.
Now mum Helen Nicol believes it would makee a fitting legacy for Natalie if more people became aware of brain tumours and their symptoms.
Helen, 48, who works as a midwife, said: “Natalie didn’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else.”
Natalie was diagnosed in July 2012 and had surgery, followed by a course of intense radiotherapy.
She and her mum both shaved off their locks and donated them to the Little Princess Trust – which makes real hair wigs for cancer patients.
A scan last October revealed the tumour was growing again and Natalie had chemotherapy – but in March, doctors told her she had “weeks or months” to live.
Her dad Alex, 48, a truck driver, said: “Even then Natalie told us ‘keep it happy’.happy’ She jjustust wanted to remain upbeat.”
Natalie, who leaves behind ind three brothers – Kevin, 27, Colin,li 25, and four-year-old Cameron – had gone to live with her mum in Nairn when she was 15.
She wanted to become a nurse and studied at Inverness College, but returned to Fallin to live with Alex and stepmum Anne when she became ill, taking a Saturday job with Greggs in Stirling.
Helen told our sister paper the Stirl ing Observer: “She was funloving and bubbly and cheered everyone up. She had a zest for life and we’re so proud she touched so many people in her time on this earth.”