On the 11th May 2024, myself and friends and family of Courtney will be taking part in a skydive to raise money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Courtney and I met in our first year of university and instantly clicked, we would spend everyday together. She was the perfect representation of what a friend is, she was selfless, never shied away from expressing her love for her friends and family, had the most perfect teeth & smile, a contagious laugh, was ambitious and one of the most beautiful I had ever met. In short Courtney had all the attributes you could ever ask in a bestfriend

Some words from Kim (Courtney’s Mum) :

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on 9th April 2003. We named her Courtney Lily Hector.  She was my first born. She was my only daughter. She was my bestfriend. From the moment she arrived, she always bought us such joy. She had a beautiful laugh but would also let us know when she wasn’t happy. When her younger brother Tyler came along three years later, she was so excited to have a little brother and they have always been very close.

Growing up Courtney was a very happy child. She wasn’t really a girlie girl – she loved football and spending time with her dad.  She was definitely a daddy’s girl! Some of our best times as a family were the holidays we had in Tenerife with my parents.

She loved making friends at school and fortunately she was pretty gifted academically.  As a teenager she fell in love with music- rap, R&B, dancehall. She went to all the parties as she loved to sing and dance and all her friends like to say that she was always the life of the party. Courtney was really warm and bubbly, but she was never afraid to tell people how it was, whether we liked it or not.

She worked hard at school and did really well in both her GCSEs and ‘A’ Levels.  She wanted to be a lawyer so she could help people and she really would’ve been a phenomenal lawyer.

When Courtney first began getting headaches, we never imagined that we would lose her.

December 2021: Courtney started having severe headaches. She went to her doctors and they told her to go to the opticians first. They then found a shadow and that’s when it all started!

After many times going and back forth to A&E and being fobbed off, we finally got what I was asking for and had a scan!!

17th January 2022: The test showed she had a small growth on her brain. It was treated with steroids and the swelling was temporarily reduced but more needed to be done as the tumour was putting a lot of pressure on Courtney’s brain. She was at risk of going blind and had to have surgery to allow fluid to flow to the opposite side of her brain.

26th January: Courtney had 8 staples removed and her vision began getting worse again. She was given medication to try and improve this. Despite this the surgery was successful and she became hopeful.

30th January: Having passed her driving test in December, she was told she couldn’t drive for six months so she sold her car.

10th February: Doctors said Courtney could go back to the gym. Slowly, life was returning to normal.

27th March: Courtney started to feel unwell and was admitted to hospital overnight for tests. She began losing her sight in both eyes.

9th April: Courtney celebrated her 19th birthday with a party – she had the best time! Although at first she didn’t want too as felt unwell.

12th April: The tumour had grown, and the doctors wanted to operate.

14th April: A biopsy was carried out on the tumour. Given that it was growing so quickly it needed to be treated urgently.

28th April: Courtney went to the Royal Marsden to discuss her treatment.

4th May: She had her final scans, so doctors knew where to target the radiotherapy.

12th May: Courtney began her 6-week radiotherapy treatment.  Every day, Monday – Friday myself and Tom made the journey with Courtney from Bracknell to the Royal Marsden. She also had to take a chemotherapy tablet every day.

During her treatment she lost all control of the left side of her body.

1st - 11th June: Courtney spent another 11 days in hospital. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and taken off the chemo tablet as it was effecting her liver.

Courtney began physiotherapy as her body was very weak.

1st July: Courtney’s vision became blurry, and her hearing started to go

10th August: Then a bit of good news, the swelling on her brain had gone down and it looked like the tumour had shrunk slightly. Courtney was then put back on to the Chemo tablets.

As the weeks passed Courtney started to feel much better, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel and started looking to the future.

11th November: After a routine check-up appointment she received a call from the hospital saying they had found tumour cells on the surface of her brain. Not long after this, cells were found on the top of her spine. Courtney lost her appetite and was being sick every day.

27th November: Courtney was rushed into hospital and taken into intensive care. She went into a self induced coma and her body began shutting down.

3rd December: Courtney passed away.

As a mother I would have done anything to take my beautiful baby girls pain away from her, I would’ve swapped places with her, I would’ve done anything. From the day Court’s headaches began to the day she took her last breath I did not leave her side. I did everything that I could to try and ease the pain and hurt that she was feeling. But as days, weeks and months went on Court’s was getting weaker and her bright shinning light started to dim. Everyday Tom, Tyler and I felt so helpless because we just didn’t know how to make things better for our Courts.

She was so brave through all of this. Courts has always been a very strong person but her battling this brain tumour really showed everyone how strong she really was. At some points through Courtney’s journey she didn’t know if she could carry on fighting, but she did. She fought until the very end and she never gave up once and I could not be prouder of my baby girl.

Since my Bestfriend left me I feel numb everyday, i really don’t know what to do without her, but I’m trying, I really am trying for you Courts. I still don’t think that it’s hit that she’s gone. I would do anything to be back with my baby girl and caring for her.

My beautiful brave daughter was so selfless and kind. She would want me, her family and friends to all continue to live life and do everything that she can no longer do. And that is what we are all going to do. Everything I do will be in honour Courts and for Courts.

More time and money needs to go into the research of brain tumours so that this senseless loss that my family and I are going through does not have to be experienced by other families. I will continue to raise awareness about brain tumours, try to help others experiencing this in any way I can. And anyone I know or meet will know my beautiful baby girls name. Courtney Lily Hector I love you.