GIVING birth to her first child, a son, Alfie, should have been the happiest day of Nicola Corry's life, but after complications and an emergency caesarian. Nicola faced the news she had a rare form of ovarian cancer, Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour.

It was a time of mixed emotions, we were happy to have Alfie in our lives, but then we had to suddenly deal with the cancer," said Mary Pearce, 52, Nicola's mother. "She looked fabulous when she was carrying Alfie, we had no idea there was anything wrong," she said.

After battling the disease for 27 months, and undergoing chemotherapy treatment, the talented hairdresser died on May 23, last year. The 25-year-old's death, however, has not been allowed to pass as just another statistic. During her illness, friends and family were desperate for news and updates on Nicola's condition, so a website was set up to keep everyone informed, and it is this website that is now the basis of the Nicola Corry Support Foundation.

Throughout her illness, friends and families were keen to support Nicola, but were aware that as a young couple, Nicola and her partner David could not afford child-care for Alfie while she was in hospital.
Mrs Pearce said: "The Foundation was set up because Nicola was very young, she and her partner, had a baby and didn't have any finances.

"A friend of Nicola's from Kingswood decided to do some Foundationraising to help pay for nursery and alternative therapies."
One year after her death, the Nicola Corry Support Foundation is going from strength to strength, and will soon achieve official charity status.
"When Nicola died we were very committed to helping each other, and we decided to carry on the charity," said Mrs Pearce.

The Nicola Corry Support Foundation has several clear aims, and all the volunteers involved are dedicated to helping other young cancer sufferers like Nicola who also have young families.

Mrs Pearce said: "We want to support young families in the same situation. Eventually, we would like to be able to give grants to help families pay for childcare or cleaning when dealing with illnesses like cancer. "We would also like to set up support groups, because Nicola's cancer was so rare there were groups but nothing specific for her."

The first goal on the charity's list though is to renovate the family room in the oncology unit in Bristol. "The oncology department in Bristol was very good to Nicola, but the children's facilities were dire, so we feel the first thing we'd like to look to do is to get in there and decorate," said Mrs Pearce.

The Foundation hopes to provide a changing area, travel cot and somewhere to warm food. "We'd like to set up charity shops as well to help with the fund-raising, at the moment we have barbecues, car boot sales and cake sales," said Mrs Pearce.

For information about the Nicola Corry Support Foundation, or to join in the Foundationraising, visit www.