The heartbroken family of a young mum who died of cancer at just 31 have paid tribute to the 'stongest person' they've ever known. After discovering a lump in her breast Nicola Hailes was diagnosed with cancer and underwent months of grueling treatment including chemotherapy before being given the all clear. However, just a few months later, the beloved mum-of-one started getting headaches, which tragically were revealed to be from cancerous tumours in her brain and she passed away five months later last summer.
Now, to mark the first anniversary of her passing, her family is holding a family fun day on Sunday, August 18, at the Dorman's Club in Oxford Road to boost awareness of cancer in young people and also to raise money for Ward 14 at James Cook University Hospital where she was lovingly cared for. The loss of Nicola, who lived in Longlands with her childhood sweetheart partner, Andrew Logan, 35, and their seven-year-old daughter Isabella, has devastated her whole family, including parents, Christine and Michael Hailes and sister Natalie. Nicola's sister-in-law, Aimee Logan, said the young mum, who worked as a stylist at Guido's Hair Salon in Middlesbrough , always had a smile on her face and bravely tried to hide her pain from her loved ones.
She said: "Nicola was amazing, bubbly, confident and so full of life. She was the strongest person I have ever known. I have never known anyone to be able to put on such a brave face as she did.
" Aimee said the fundraising day in t.