A Fife mum spent her final few months making memories with her children, family and friends after learning her cancer was terminal.
Lynda Simpson, 36, died two years after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
After being told in December treatment had been unsuccessful she and husband Michael embarked on a series of outings with their sons, Joshua, 15, Connor, 11, and Rory, 9.
These included a Scotland football match at Hampden and a WWE wrestling event in Glasgow.
Music fan Lynda also went to a series of concerts including McFly, Blink 182, Nickelback and Busted with Connor and Pink with her friends.
And the couple, who lived in Auchtermuchty, took Lynda’s parents Margaret and David Bowers to see André Rieu in Glasgow.
Lynda Simpson “absolutely loved” her boys
Para bowler Michael, 39, said his “kind-hearted” and “caring” wife Lynda was eager to make the most of the time she had left.
She was also determined to leave their boys with treasured memories.
Lynda, he said, was someone who would help others to her own detriment and “absolutely loved” her boys.
He said: “As long as the boys were happy that’s all that mattered to her.
“The thing Lynda hated the most about her terminal diagnosis was the fact she would miss out on so many things in the boys’ lives as they grow up.
“Not seeing them learn to drive or get girlfriends, get their first jobs, have families of their own and get their own houses.
“All these things their mum should be there for but sadly won’t have that chance.
Six weeks from symptoms to stage 3 diagnosis
Lynda, he said, was also eager to highlight to others the importance of getting symptoms checked out quickly, no matter how insignificant they seem.
“It could mean catching cancer at a far less advanced stage and having far more treatment options available,” he said.
“When Lynda first noticed bleeding in her stool she genuinely didn’t think it was that serious as it was sporadic.
“After six weeks she went to get checked and found out that she had stage three bowel cancer.
“In December 2023 we got the news that the cancer had spread and it was now stage four cancer with treatment ineffective.”
Her childhood in Elie
More chemotherapy to control the cancer was tried but it continued to spread and grow.
Michael said: “No further options were available and we just tried to make the most of the time we had left.”
Lynda Bowers was brought up in Elie with her siblings Dawn and John and went to Waid Academy, in nearby Anstruther.
In her youth she was a keen golfer and bowler.
It was through her love of bowls and music that she met Michael.
They got talking at Strathmiglo Bowling Club where she had gone for drinks with a friend the night before a McFly concert in May 2007.
They started dating soon after.
In October that year Michael fell seriously ill.
Lynda was Michael’s ‘rock’ during his serious illness
Despite only being in the early days of their relationship Lynda became his “rock” during the six months he was in hospital.
They got engaged that Christmas during one of Michael’s home visits.
Then on the day they moved into their first home together in 2009 they learned Lynda was pregnant with their first child.
The couple married in April 2011 in Elie when Joshua was 18 months old.
Lynda, who did an access to nursing course at college, was a stay-at-home mum when the boys were young.
When they went to school she started working at Sterling Homes, and continued to do so until four months before her death.
Michael said she battled through her pain for a sense of normality until she was physically unable to work.
Lynda’s parting gift
After her diagnosis in October 2022, Lynda went through radiotherapy, a major surgery to remove a tumour and three cycles of chemotherapy.
Despite being terrified she never complained and would say it’s “time to put my big girl pants on”.
One of Lynda’s parting gifts to Michael and their boys was getting a family dog called Bailey, knowing he would bring them joy when she was gone.
Michael was by Lynda’s side when she passed away in the Victoria Hospice, Kirkcaldy, on October 28.
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