A BRAVE mum who is battling cancer feels "overwhelmed" by the generosity of her friends and family who are making her 'dreams' come true.
Lisa Hepworth from Bracknell will be able to create amazing memories with her six children thanks to the kindness of the Bracknell community for their donations.
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The teaching assistant at Crown Wood Primary School is suffering from terminal cervical cancer and also tested positive for Covid-19 when nurses carried out a routine swab before she was due to have surgery.
Her best-friend Emma Claire set up a fundraising page to raise money for Lisa as she 'dreams to take her children abroad on holiday' to create special memories.
Lisa said: "I’m overwhelmed with the generosity and kindness from everyone who has donated and sent such kind messages. It means that me and my family can make memories without having to worry about the financial cost – I have 6 children – so doing things is quite costly.
"Doing fundraising never entered my mind as this is such a difficult time for us and we are dealing with things as best we can. It’s also been a very emotional time as you can imagine so knowing that friends and family and even people we don’t know are there for us, it has had a huge impact on us as a family and given the kids something else to focus on other than me being terminally ill. "
The mum has also reassured other's who are going through a similar tough situation and explains that the hospital care she received is "fantastic and they are there for everything, whether it medical or emotional."
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She said: "It has been phenomenal. Before I even got diagnosed, I was assigned a Macmillan team who are absolutely amazing. The chemo team, radiotherapy team are so supportive.
It has not been an easy ride for Lisa and her family, as she also contracted coronavirus and feared for her life.
She said: "It was only through a routine swab as I was due surgery that they tested me. That was quite traumatic in its self as each day I woke up thinking is this the day that I’m going to be really ill as apparently the mortality rate for people going through chemo is very high."
The fundraiser set up by Emma is still active if people would like to donate, and Lisa thanked her colleague and friend for the help she has given her family.
Lastly, Lisa said: "As for Emma, well she’s just a superstar and the kindness and generosity from her is something we’ll never forget. We all feel like the whole of Bracknell is sending us love and helping to make this horrendous time for us become something memorable and easier to bare.
"We are all truly grateful to Emma and everyone involved and no words can ever thank everyone."
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