A BRAVE grandmother who outlived a doctor's cancer prognosis and dedicated herself to raising funds to help send a disabled relative to China has died.
Diane Harrison, 55, of Horton Bank Top, Bradford, was surrounded by family when she lost her fight to live on Friday - almost 18 months after doctors had predicted.
Her husband Michael, 57, said he and everyone who experienced her "get up and go attitude" even in the face of such serious illness was "blessed."
After news that her cancer was terminal, Mrs Harrison, who has a son John, helped organise a fashion show which made more than £800 to get her cousin's husband Stan Padley to Beijing for stem-cell treatment designed to restore his voice and help him eat again.
Mrs Harrison had vowed to do her best to help others supporting him raise the last £10,000 needed after he was left brain-damaged after a complication arising from a hip operation in Chesterfield in 2008 - he flies out for his life-changing surgery on March 31.
"Diane knew they'd got all the money to make it possible. She was very happy about that. We hope it's a success. Everything Diane did she did 100 per cent, you got it all with Diane. She had that get up and go attitude and would not be beaten. She knew her time was limited but was determined to make the most of it and that's exactly what she did," said Mr Harrison.
Despite her health struggle she raised almost £3,000 at an auction and race night in August at Central Division Working Men's Club in Clayton Lane and had made more than £800 at a fashion show.
She had also raised money for other charities including £5,400 with a Macmillan coffee morning in the past.
As her illness progressed, Mrs Harrison had decided to refuse more chemotherapy, relying on 24 painkillers a day. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February 2012 and had major surgery a month later. Although her condition improved in January 2013, after discovering she had the BRCA1 cancer gene, she had a double mastectomy.
In April 2013, she knew she was not well again and scans and blood tests at Bradford Royal Infirmary confirmed the cancer was back, this time in her pelvic area and had since spread to her back lymph nodes and to one of her lungs.
Family and friends will say their farewells at a celebration of her life at Nab Wood at 10.10am this Friday. A collection in her memory will go to the Marie Curie Hospice in Maudesley Street.
"It is such a calm place, the staff are so lovely. We would like to say thank you," added Mr Harrison, who said his wife's fundraising and the birth of grandson Jacob, now 13 months old, had fuelled her fight to live as long as possible.
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