TRIBUTES have been paid to a “wonderful” mum who battled with cancer.

Sarah Poole was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2017. By January the cancer had spread to her spine, liver and lymph nodes but with chemotherapy she recovered.

However, in August she had a seizure and it was discovered she had tumours in her brain.

Sarah, 39, from Colchester, died at St Helena Hospice last month.

Her husband, Tom, said: “She never fully recovered from the seizure. Although she had radiotherapy she was never 100 per cent.

“In January this year, we had results from a scan which said radiotherapy had worked. From then we started to enjoy ourselves and spend time together as a family.”

After two months, however, further tests revealed bad news - the radiotherapy had stopped working and Sarah had more than 30 tumours in her brain. No other treatment could help her.

Tom said: “From March we were just spending time together. She just kept going and she never stopped doing what she enjoyed.”

Sarah, a former midday assistant at St Michael’s Primary School, Colchester, even went to a concert in London after being given three months to live. She spent the rest of her time with daughter Beth, 11.

Tom, her husband of 12 years, said: “Sarah enjoyed walking through country parks and loved all things Shakespeare, but her main effort was spending time with Beth.”

She spent a lot of time with her friend Serene Carney who ran the Race for Life in her memory.

Serene said: “She changed my life, her smile was like armour and every day she went to war.

“She will always have a place in my heart, she is an inspiration.”

Sarah’s funeral will be held at St James the Great Church in East Hill, Colchester, on Friday. It will take place at 12.30pm followed by a wake at the Castle Inn.

Tom said his wife was a true fighter. “She was the most wonderful, supportive wife and mum who always took everything in her stride,” he said.

“The 14 years we spent together were the best of my life and I’m blessed to have Beth to remind me of her every day.

“She never backed down and even towards the end maintained her dry sense of humour and her never give in attitude.

“I will love her all my life and miss her all the time. I just wish I had told her I loved her more often.”