Ellie was born on 23rd September 1988 along with her twin sister Cassie. They were both lively, funny and very energetic little girls and playmates for their 3 year old brother Adam. The family was completed 3 years later when younger sister Natalie arrived.

Things changed dramatically in the half term holiday of October 2001 when out of the blue Ellie had a Grand Mal epileptic fit. We were reassured that although this was a frightening episode this was not a uncommon occurrence in teenagers.

However Ellie continued to have up to 4 fits a day and when a routine MRI scan showed that she had a tumour in the right-hand side of her brain our world fell apart.

Ellie had a 6 hour operation on New Years Eve 2001 from which the biopsy showed she had a grade 4 Glioblastoma for which there is no cure.

Chemotherapy was not an option and radiotherapy only slowed the growth for a few months. During what was, to say the least, a difficult year for our family Ellie proved to have strength that was beyond belief.

She attended school whenever she could (mainly for the socialising!), went to parties and sleepovers, went shopping and to the beach. She and Cassie went to a pop concert.

Whilst on holiday in Tenerife Ellie had her wish to swim with dolphins granted. ( Thanks to Round Table Childrens Wish ) Her main motivation was to be with her friends and to be treated normally. She achieved this with the support of her family, friends and school. The strength she showed rubbed off on everyone who knew her, helping us to cope, during and after her illness.

Ellie died peacefully on Monday November 11th 2002 aged just 14