"My one-in-a-million mum left notebooks for us before she died and I am still finding them now"
The daughter of a “unique, courageous and passionate” Sheffield mum has told how she will continue the selfless legacy her mum built before she died.
Donna Taylor, from Parson Cross, passed away after months stoically spent battling an untreatable stomach cancer.
The mum-of-two spent much of her treatment fundraising for ‘Dee’s Tummy Cancer Charity’ which donated to Weston Park Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care.
“She was 46 when she passed,” Donna’s loving daughter Tia told The Star.
“She achieved so much in her life. She was in love with life. She wasn’t going to let her cancer control her. That’s why she started the charity and fundraising.
“She was quite high-up in children’s services. She loved that job. She loved helping people.
“She was also the best mum ever. She would sacrifice everything for me and my brother... I could go to her with anything, any worries we had, and she was always proud of us. Even when she was diagnosed she was worried about what was happening with me and my brother.
“She knew she was going to pass. She would leave notebooks for us with things in them. I’m still finding them.
“She was one-in-a-million.
“She had so much love around her and she was very loving. A lot of people loved her and it was evident at her funeral, there were crowds outside. She has achieved that legacy she wanted to achieve, which is what we are carrying on.”
21-year-old Tia and her younger brother, Rio, along with friends and family, are working hard to continue Donna’s incredible fundraising efforts.
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“We really want to get to £50,000 by the end of the year,” Tia said. “Mum really wanted to get to £50,000.
“She was diagnosed in November last year and by February we had set up the charity... we have done race nights and an auction night.
“People are running the Ladybower 22k for us this weekend. That money will go to the Cavendish.
“Before she passed she wanted to do a sponsored swim, but she never got to it so some of us will be doing that in her memory.”
Loads of people who knew and loved Donna attended her funeral, which Tia believes is a testament to how many lives she touched.
She said: “Everyone who met her she had an impact on. Everyone she met.
“There were people who were really close and then people who knew her for a really short period of time and they said how much of an impact she had on their lives.
“Her lecturer from when she was at university made a speech and [she was at university] 20 years ago.”
Donna’s story and fundraising efforts have raised more than £35,000 for both Weston Park Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care so far.