A Bradford nurse who died from the same disease that killed her only son and older brother is be buried in the West Indies where she was born.
The body of mum-of-four Gloria Bardouille, who lost her fight against colon cancer, will be flown to the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis after her funeral at Lidget Green's St William's RC Church on Monday.
Her husband Alfred will go with her to fulfil her last wish and lay her to rest alongside her mother, father and brother Roosevelt, who died from the disease in 1998.
Gloria was 59 when she died at her home in Lidget Green, surrounded by close family - some of whom had flown in from Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and the West Indies.
The family was devastated when she was diagnosed with colon cancer - six months after her son Carl, 42, had also been diagnosed with it. They battled against it together but Carl died two days after Christmas last year. Although Gloria was heartbroken, she continued her fight but the cancer grew, despite radiotherapy.
Now doctors have told Gloria's three daughters they too should be tested for the disease because there is a genetic link.
Her youngest daughter Claudia, 32, who flew in from Uganda to be with her mum in the final weeks, said she and her sisters had promised each other to have regular three-year tests for colon cancer.
She said: "We were told even if we had tests to see if we had the disease gene it would still be 50/50 as to whether we'd develop it or not. We decided rather than spend the rest of our lives worrying that we might get it, we'd have regular check-ups instead."
Gloria was 16 when she followed her brother Roosevelt to Bradford to find work. She started straight away as a burler and mender at Lister's Mill in Manningham, then worked on the buses before becoming a district nurse. She then left the profession for ten years to run pubs with her husband in the Thornton Road and Heaton areas. She took up nursing again and working on the psychiatric ward at Lynfield Mount until ill health forced her to retire.
Claudia paid tribute to her mum, describing her as a "caring, generous, giving" woman who loved her work, family and friends. She said: "Lots of people will remember her from her nursing days and from when she ran the pubs. She always made people feel cared for - that's how she was."
The family has asked for donations, instead of flowers, to be made towards Bradford Royal Infirmary's Ward 15, where Gloria was a patient.
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