Parents' tribute to 'amazing' teenager

The parents of a Shropshire teenager who died after losing her battle against cancer today paid tribute to their "amazing and inspirational" daughter.

Hayley Higginson, 16, from Dawley, Telford, was diagnosed with a brain tumour aged seven. She was free from the disease from 2000 until 2008, but the tumour then returned in her spine.

She died at the home of her parents, Lisa and Andy Higginson, on Tuesday. Mrs Higginson said Hayley's death had left the couple and their son Tom, 20, devastated. Mrs Higginson said: "She was such an amazing girl, we are going to really miss her. We don't know what to do with ourselves. It's like we've lost our best friend as well as our daughter.

"She had chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Then in October last year, the doctors said they couldn't do any more.

"She was such a happy girl, always smiling, everyone always said she was an inspiration. The other girls on her ward loved her because she would go and talk to them." Hayley went to Captain Webb Primary School and the Phoenix School.

Her funeral will be held next Friday at Holy Trinity Church, Dawley at 10.45am. The burial will be at Broseley Cemetery.

There will be a collection for the Children's Oncology Ward at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Messages in memory of Hayley can be read on the Facebook page, In Loving Memory of Hayley Higginson.