She adored Christmas and, even though she wasn’t feeling great, made sure all the gifts she had chosen were perfectly wrapped with ribbons and bows, just like she always did. The next day she slipped away with us all by her side. We feel Abbie chose to le
with medics. There were no more treatments that could help Abbie.
“I told Abbie myself, and we were both numb with shock. But even when she was told the worst she thought about helping others. That weekend she and I stayed at her best friend Emma’s and the two girls wrote down Abbie’s wishes, detailing how she wanted to create her own Sparkle Foundation to help raise ‘money towards hospitals and stuff’.
“She also detailed her funeral wishes or celebration as she liked to call it. She wanted her cheerleading group to perform and us all to say what we liked about her.
“She fought till the end. She wasn’t in pain and, although her strength slipped away, her spirit remained.”
Towards the end Abbie was cared for at home.
Losing someone on Christmas Day sounds unbearable but Tammy takes comfort from the fact her daughter died on her favourite day of the year.
Tammy says: “On Christmas Eve we all wore our elf pyjamas she had picked for us.
“She adored Christmas and, even though she wasn’t feeling great, she made sure all the gifts she had carefully chosen were perfectly wrapped with ribbons and bows, like she always did.
“The next day she slipped away with us all by her side.
“We feel Abbie chose the sparkliest day of the year to go.
“We held her goodbye celebration on January 4 at Elgin Town Hall. Her cheerleading team danced beautifully.
“Cameron read out over 100 lovely words to describe his sister – courageous, dignified, classy, funny, beautiful, bright, loving, spirited ...”
With the help of the local community, family and friend’s the Sparkle Foundation has provided gifts and grants to bring some joy to the lives of children living with cancer.
Tammy said: “We’re proud to share Abbie’s story, to raise awareness of her amazing legacy, sarcoma and childhood cancer. We’re overwhelmed at what she’s achieved in the last two years.”
She said: “You don’t get over losing a daughter. You just try to do something good with the life you have left, always sparkling for Abbie.”