Mother Fulfils Late Daughter's Wishes

A devoted mother has spent more than a decade fulfilling her daughter's dying wishes after she succumbed to a rare form of bone cancer aged just 17. Rosemary Locock, 57, from Weymouth, Dorset, promised her daughter Karina she would complete her last 3 requests before she lost her battle with Osteosarcoma in 2003. They were to run a marathon, plant roses on her grave and write a book.

It has taken more than 10 years, but Rosemary has finally been able to keep her word.

She not only planted the flowers, but even managed to have a red rose named 'Karina Elouise' in her daughter's honour. After several failed attempts to get a place at the London Marathon, Rosemary went on to run it 3 times raising money for charity. And finally she managed to self-publish an inspiring book which describes Karina's battle with the illness.

Rosemary said: 'The 1st thing Karina asked me to do was to plant roses in front of her grave. But we managed to get a rose named after her.We contacted the American Rose Society, who document the names and asked them to call it Karina Elouise.

The 2nd thing was the London Marathon. I started applying for places in 2004 but kept being rejected. In 2008, my husband got a place but I did not. 'I did not win, but they got in contact with me and said they were so moved by what I said, so they gave me a place. I ran it 3 times.'

Karina was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in September 2001 when she went to the doctor complaining of a pain in her cheek bone.After an operation to remove the tumour from her face and chemotherapy, she thought she had beaten the cancer but sadly it returned and she died in 2003.

She kept a diary of what she experienced during her illness and wanted her mother to publish it to inspire other children.Rosemary added: 'It was very hard for me to write, because it brought back all of those memories of Karina.

'Sometimes I would burst into tears, stop and have to start again. But even when she was ill, she always thought about other people.' More than 200 copies of the book were published with the proceeds going to the hospitals that helped Karina during her illness.

Source : Mail Online