An Angus mum and teacher has died aged 38, just weeks after discovering she had cancer.
Caroline Parkinson’s family spoke of their “heartbreak” after the Dundee teacher lost her fight with stomach cancer less than a month after being diagnosed.
Her mother, Betty Ferguson, said she was still in shock at the loss of her “best friend”.
“Never in a million years would I have thought she’d be taken away,” she said. “It was such a shock we couldn’t get prepared.”
Caroline, who lived in Arbroath, was a home economics teacher at Harris Academy where she had worked for two years.
It was at the start of the Christmas holidays that she began to feel unwell and was still in pain after trips to the doctor and Arbroath Infirmary.
Her mother took her to Ninewells Hospital on Boxing Day and the diagnosis was made a day after.
“She went through for a scan,” said Betty, 78. “She was sitting crying and said: ‘I don’t want to tell you and dad’.
“I said, ‘you’ve got cancer, haven’t you?’ and she said yes. She sobbed herself to sleep that night.”
At the time, doctors were unsure which form of the disease had struck Caroline, but the family soon discovered she had stomach cancer.
After the diagnosis she spoke to her son, 14-year-old Shaun, and said she would fight the illness.
“She fought it and fought it until she couldn’t fight it any more,” said Betty. “She was really brave. She wouldn’t accept it.
“She was in hospital for two weeks until the day she died. We were able to be with her until the very end. Shaun was very brave. He held her hand.”
Despite her grief, Betty spoke of her gratitude to the nurses at Ninewells, where she said Caroline’s situation reduced one doctor to “floods of tears”.
As well as her mum, dad and son, Caroline’s sister Elizabeth, 38, and brother Sandy, 55, also sat with her during her last hours.
Betty spoke of the pride both parents felt for their daughter, and said: “I’ll never forget her.”