Tributes paid to "amazing" 29 year old who lived each day as if it were her last (From Bournemouth Echo)

Tributes paid to "amazing" Zoe Gooch, who lived each day as if it were her last

11:22am Wednesday 23rd January 2013 in News By Julie Magee

WHEN Zoe Gooch was told she had terminal cancer last summer she was determined to live each day as if it was her last.

Instead of dwelling on the devastating diagnosis, the 29-year-old bank worker focused on a wishlist of goals she wanted to achieve.

Her grieving mum Shirley, who was with Zoe when she passed away in the Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital on January 4, said: “Zoe wanted to pack in as much as possible; it’s amazing how much she managed to do in just six months.”

After going to her GP and being referred to Poole hospital for tests and scans, Zoe was told she had a very rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Shirley, from Southbourne, said: “It shook us to the core when we were told that Zoe’s condition was terminal.

“No parent should have to endure the heartache of losing a child.”

Zoe’s fiancé Steve Clarke, from Christchurch, said: “Zoe didn’t want to know how long she had left. We were hoping for a couple of years but, after Zoe received treatment, we were told in December that the cancer had spread and it was a matter of months.

“She was absolutely amazing.

“She always wanted to go to Las Vegas and we were planning a trip in February; we had discussed getting married there.

“Another of her dreams was to snowboard and ski in France; she died two days before we were due to go. But Zoe achieved so many of her goals, like swimming with the dolphins in Cuba.

“We went to Majorca and Zoe went scuba diving there, diving off a cliff with her dad Barry.

“Zoe always wanted a dog and, when she couldn’t work anymore, she adopted a stray from Greece called Ellie.

“She took up golf lessons and visited the Isle of Wight tiger sanctuary.”

Shirley fought back tears as she recalled their last Christmas together. “I remember Zoe sipping Champagne while having pain relief; she was determined to go ice-skating on New Year’s Eve and up in the balloon. The weather made those wishes impossible.

“Zoe decided to bring her 30th birthday celebrations forward to January and ordered new ball gowns for us on the internet.

“We ended up wearing the dresses to her funeral. When I went to see Zoe at the Chapel of Rest she looked so beautiful in her red satin gown.”

Steve was also with Zoe when she passed away, along with other members of her family.

He said: “Her last words to me were: ‘I’ve had enough of this’ before she suffered a seizure.

“A few hours later I said my goodbyes.”