Published at 17:08, Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Teenager Jodie Hodgson refused to give up on life, even when she knew she was dying.

Jodie Hodgson

The 19-year-old from Carlisle was struck down by a rare form of cancer. She died peacefully last Wednesday at home in Knowe Park Avenue, Stanwix.

Yet the final months of her life were filled with happy memories for her family.

When doctors told Jodie in April that she was terminally ill, she turned down offers of more chemotherapy and radiotherapy so she could stay fit enough to fulfil her ambitions.

Mum Sue, 45, a health care assistant, said: “She had a list of things she wanted to do.

“She went to Monte Carlo, to Sorrento in Italy, to Dublin and to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Manchester. We went to an artificial ski slope in Glasgow, had afternoon tea at Sharrow Bay Hotel at Ullswater and a spa weekend at Center Parcs.”

She added: “The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle were amazing. If it wasn’t for the medical care there we wouldn’t have got her to any of these places.”

Jodie wrote letters to her sister Megan, 14, boyfriend Tom Ward and close friends to be opened after her death.

She also compiled a photograph album for her family and organised her funeral, specifying the music including Celine Dion’s Because you loved me and Whitney Houston’s I will always love you.

Sue said: “She planned everything. She wanted to become a primary school teacher and I think this was the teacher in her coming out.”

Jodie fell ill in October 2009 while a sixth former at Trinity School. She suffered pain in her cheek, which the family at first thought was wisdom teeth.

The following April doctors diagnosed rhabdomyosarcoma, a tissue tumour that mainly affects children and teenagers.

There are fewer than 60 cases a year in the UK.

Despite radiotherapy and nine gruelling courses of chemotherapy, the cancer spread to her bones and proved impossible to eradicate.

Jodie defied the pain to sit her A-levels, securing an A and two Bs. She won a university place in Newcastle but was too poorly to take it up.

Dad Mark, 47, who works at Pirelli, said: “She was in tremendous pain but still went to school to do her exams. She was a born fighter.

“We could say a million things about what sort of girl Jodie was. As a daughter and a loving sister she was unbelievable.

“In the last few weeks it was my birthday and her mum’s birthday. She had all the presents wrapped up. She was desperate to enjoy our birthdays.”

He paid tribute to the generosity of family, friends, organisations such as Clic Sargent and Macmillan Cancer Support, and Carlisle fundraiser Geoff Brown, who made possible the trips in the last months.

Sue added: “She lost all her hair but she still kept smiling. I will remember Jodie as being amazing and courageous. She was my best friend.

“We weren’t allowed to cry. We got upset at the beginning but Jodie said don’t ever cry. She never felt sorry for herself. She made it so easy for us because she was so brave.”

Her grandmother Pat McCluskey, 69, said: “She was very caring, very loving. She did her best at everything she put her hand to.”

Jodie was a keen sportswoman who enjoyed trampolining, played netball with Harraby and coached netball at Stanwix Primary School where she used to be a pupil.

Her funeral service and cremation were held at Carlisle Crematorium at 3.40pm yesterday.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk