A touching tribute has been paid by the brother of a bride who died just weeks after her dream wedding.
Kaylea McCole died just weeks after her wedding to partner of 13 years Mark McCole after she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in January 2018. The mum-of-two had won a Liverpool ECHO wedding competition in January 2018 which meant she could have her fairy-tale wedding as she tied the knot with her life partner.
Just weeks after her big day surrounded by friends and family, Kaylea died on January 16 after fearlessly fighting the deadly disease. Speaking four years on from her death, Brother Shaun, 31, told the ECHO: "She was fantastic and such a lovely person. She was the life of our family.
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"She was my older sister and she would always look after us growing up. She was always there for me and my other siblings. She was a lovely soul and would always do anything for anyone.
"She has two lovely children as well. Her son Kian was only four and her daughter Aoife was only one when they lost their mum but they're amazing. I know everyone has their own stories with cancer and it's such a horrible disease."
Kaylea, from Orrell Park, was just 32 when she died, having first complained of stomach pains in 2013 but was told it was nothing serious by doctors. In early 2018 she found out she was actually suffering from a rare bowel cancer that had spread to her liver.
She vowed to fight the disease with everything she had, undergoing brutal sessions of chemotherapy every fortnight for three months. After having an operation to remove part of her bowel and half of her liver, the teaching assistant thought she had beaten the cancer and was getting stronger each day.
Despite Kaylea's determination to survive for her children, the treatment was unsuccessful and she was told she had just months to live.
Now, four years on from her death, Shaun has committed to raising money in her name every year. Last week saw the third annual football tournament held, raising money for Mummy's Star, a non-profit organisation which helps women who have been diagnosed with cancer while or shortly after being pregnant.
Shaun said: "This time of year is difficult for me, my family and anyone who knew Kaylea. One charity that helped us get through it is Mummy's Star. We started the fundraiser by having a football tournament.
"It started out really small then last year we had 50-60 people involved and this year we had 120-130 people there. From a personal point of view, it helps me and it's nice to be able to surround myself with people."
The five-a-side tournament managed to raise £1,500 for the charity, with the tournament taking place on Sunday, February 5. To read more or donate click here.
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