THE family of mum Julie Basleigh has told how she fought as hard as she could to spend a final few months with her beloved daughters.

Her battle with an aggressive brain tumour ended on July 19, two and-a-half years after she was diagnosed.

“Her girls and her husband kept her going,” her mother Shirley said.

She and Julie’s sisters Emma and Lisa told the Advertiser of Julie’s determination to do anything she could to stay with them for as long as she could including supplements, diets and special chemotherapy.

People in Swindon backed that fight when her family began fundraising to pay for medical treatment that was not available on the NHS. In total they raised a staggering £44,000.

“It was her determination. She did the research. We all went along and did the fundraising to get the treatment that she had researched,” said Shirley.

She also threw her energy into helping the Brighter Futures appeal, documenting the miles driven and hours for cancer patients to receive radiotherapy in Oxford.

Her motivation was her daughters Libby, 12 and Ava Rose, who was just a baby when the tumour was discovered.

“She was always very open about the fact that it was what she would die of. She was always very realistic about it,” Emma explained.

“But she would try everything to have the extra time,” said Lisa.

“I think she wanted Ava Rose to have some memories of her.”

The little girl, whose third birthday was last week, would say that she loved her mummy when she sat on the bed and read stories with her. As Julie’s condition worsened Ava would go and sit on her mum’s bed and listen to dad Tony read.

Julie also did her best to get to all her older daughter Libby’s dance shows and was adamant that the 12-year-old should continue with her hobby.

“Libby is throwing herself into dance,” said Emma.

“She has a show two days after Julie died and she was determined to do it. She just wants to be a normal girl and it is what her mum would have wanted.”

Julie, Lisa and Emma lost their father Richard in three months from the same kind of tumour, but Libby has known for some time what was going to happen.

“Julie anticipated that she was always going to have about 12 months,” explained Emma.

The months after that she treated as a bonus. But in May when it became clear her condition was worsening the decision was made to stop raising money.

Julie, 40, from Redhouse, was moved into Prospect Hospice in early July and her family spent as much time with her as they could until she slipped away just as Lisa and Shirley were preparing to say goodnight.

Her wish was that the £12,500 left over from fundraising should be divided between Brighter Futures and Brain Tumour Research.

A celebration of her life will be held at Kingsdown Crematorium on Wednesday, August 16, and the request is for donations to Prospect Hospice instead of flowers.