THE grieving husband of a much-missed mum-of-two has paid tribute to her generous spirit and boundless positivity.

Ellen Woollaston-Cooper of Royal Wootton Bassett died last month aged 41 at Prospect Hospice with her family by her side after surviving one round of breast cancer, only for the disease to return earlier this year and spread to her liver, spine, sternum and lymph nodes.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2015, had a mastectomy one month later, and the cancer went into remission, but was told she had terminal secondary cancer in April.

Her friends and family were known as Team Boobette, named after the nickname Ellen gave her cancer, and they raised well over £20,000 for Cancer Research UK through a variety of fundraising events and sponsorships.

Ellen took part in this year’s 5km Race for Life for the charity with her two young daughters Eloise and Amelie, all wearing shirts that spelt out the word Mum.

Speaking to the Adver earlier this year, she said: “I will do this with people from my community which will be emotional – a village will be carrying me through.”

Bryan, her husband of 12 years, said: “She was a very kind and positive person, she didn’t do self-pity, she had a good sense of humour and a big heart. She kept that positive attitude right to the end which is quite amazing, you can’t be too down when someone’s that positive.

“She was also a force of nature, she was blunt and stood up for what she believed in and didn’t take any prisoners, always fighting for the underdog.

“It was tough when we got the news that we didn’t want to hear. Every treatment we tried didn’t stop it or slow it down and we had to face the inevitable. We’d known since April that she was living on borrowed time but we still hoped that she would last longer.

“Our main concern was our daughters and they are doing really well, I’m very proud of them, they’re very much in her mould.”

While Ellen underwent a second round of chemotherapy, a global group set up to support her which was known as Ellen’s Army carried out random of acts of kindness every Friday.

Bryan added: “Lots of people got involved, it was an amazing effort all inspired by Ellen, and it’s a lovely legacy to leave and, hopefully, it’s something the girls will carry on.

“I fondly remember our family time together, we were a very close tight-knit family and we spent as much time together as we could. Our table would be full of crafts and activities, there was always something going on and we loved going on holidays together.

“For a long time, we’d wanted to go on holidays with the girls, when they were old enough, to the same places we’d visited, so we decided to go backpacking in Vietnam last year.

“When we got the bad news, Ellen was relieved that she’d been able to do that.”

Ellen had been the chair of governors at Noremarsh Junior School, and she quit her job in ground operations management at an airport to become a stay-at-home mum and look after her daughters.

She grew up in France and came over to the south west of England with her work, which is how she met Bryan. After three years, they married and moved to the Swindon area and enjoyed travelling around the world.

A spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK said: “Ellen was truly an inspiration and from meeting her back in February this year it was clear she wanted to do all she could to future-proof her family from the effects of cancer.

“Ellen had so much positivity and passion that rubbed off on everyone whom she met. Brave, fearless and truly a woman who left you feeling better for having known her.

“Ellen shone a light on how the power of people coming together can achieve so much and out of that the amazing people who joined her and followed her and continue to shine that light on helping and thinking of others.

“On behalf of Cancer Research UK, I would like to thank Ellen, her family and her many friends and supporters for all they have achieved. I believe Ellen’s legacy to help raise awareness and drive others to support the cause will help change the outlook for more people with cancer.”