Mum of three Maria Slater’s legacy is continuing following generous donations.
Maria, who ran the ‘My name is Maria I am 35, I have grade 2 Breast and stage 3 Ovarian cancer’ group on Facebook sadly died on September 16, 2016.
Following her funeral at St Botolph’s Church in Boston the £2,100 raised from collections has now been donated in her honour.
Maria received treatment on Ward 7A and the chemotherapy suite at Pilgrim Hospital where she was already well-known to staff having previously worked as a nurse at the hospital.
Her mum Teresa said: “The ward and chemo suite looked after Maria so well. We had lots of support from Macmillan and she was impressed with the facilities at the Butterfly Hospice.
“Maria was so strong and a real fighter. She wanted people to read her own experiences and learn from them, with the key message to make sure to check themselves, so they get an early diagnosis.”
The 39-year-old from Wyberton was mother to three daughters Mackenzie, 11, Madison, nine, and Mazie, six. Her daughters presented cheques of £700 each to Ward 7A at Pilgrim Hospital and the chemotherapy suite, Macmillan Cancer Support Services and the Butterfly Hospice.
Bee Hulley, Sister on Ward 7A at Pilgrim Hospital said: “Maria was a pleasure to nurse. We all felt it when she died, we were all incredibly sad. Maria worked on the Bank and mainly worked in A&E but had worked some shifts with us on the ward.
“We are extremely grateful to Maria’s family for the donation of £700 – there is always something needed that is wanted to help improve the lives of our patients. We will be putting the money to good use towards equipment such as syringe drivers.”
Maria set up her blog, which has more than 3,600 followers, when she was diagnosed in 2012. Her family have continued to keep the blog updated following her death.
Maria also leaves behind her parents Teresa and Harold and her brother Martin and sister Suzanne.
Harold said: “Her blog is important to lots of people. We were in Australia and a doctor told me he had been told to read Maria’s blog as part of his training to see things from a patient’s perspective.
“Maria would have been very proud of what she had achieved both with the blog and with the donations.”
Linda Sanderson Butterfly Hospice Trust manager added: “I didn’t know Maria personally but all of us here at the Butterfly Hospice are very grateful to her family for their wonderful donation which will go directly towards patient care.
“I was pleased to hear that Maria was impressed with the facilities at the Butterfly Hospice but ultimately she was surrounded by her friends and colleagues in Pilgrim Hospital which was the right environment for her.”