FRIENDS, family and Bolton Hospice staff members said farewell to a brave mum-of-two who lost her five-year battle with cancer.

Mourners packed the chapel at Overdale Crematorium to pay their last respects to Lesley Bostock.

Ms Bostock was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, but fell ill again in 2011, when it was discovered that she had cancer in her bones, lungs and shoulder.

She died, aged 43, at Bolton Hospice on August 4.

Her mother Doris Curtis-Moore, aged 77, wept as she read a moving poem.

She said: “The days we saw you suffer as we watched you fade away. Our hearts were almost broken as you fought so hard to stay.

“We knew you had to leave us but you never went alone. For parts of us went with you the day you left your home.”

Ms Bostock also leaves father Vincent and sons Harry, aged 17, and George, aged 14.

In May 2013, Ms Bostock appeared in a BBC documentary ALIVE: In The Face of Death, which focused on images of people with life-limiting illnesses, taken by renowned photographer John Rankin.

Her casket was covered with flowers and cards, and pictures of her were displayed in the chapel. The service spoke of Ms Bostock’s love of music, with The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston being a particular favourite.

Gwen Parr, a friend of Ms Bostock’s, told the congregation: “No way was she going to be a victim. No way was she going to let the cancer win. She would fight, and fight and she did. The cancer never won.

“Maybe she decided at that moment that enough was enough.”

She also said condolences had been sent by Mr Rankin.

Mrs Curtis-Moore laid a flower on her daughter’s casket at the end as she and her husband said a final farewell to their daughter.