A father from Darlington has paid tribute to his daughter after she lost her battle with cervical cancer last week.
Paul Williams is known in the town as being the frontman of ska band, The Skapones, performing all over the country. He and his wife, Ruth, said goodbye to their 32-year-old daughter this month.
Zoey was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer last August, when she was just 31.
The mother-of-one, who worked as a barmaid, was told her cancer was terminal, last Summer.
Read more: Darlington dad's shock as young daughter diagnosed with terminal cancer aged just 31
Zoey died on Wednesday, May 17, at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
Mr Williams told The Northern Echo: “She was very determined and headstrong. She was always very independent. At 17 she knew she wanted to move from York, where we’re from, to Doncaster, and there was no stopping her.
“She was a drama queen, always getting herself into trouble and then calling me to get her out of it.
“I’ve just been thinking about daft things she did as a kid. She definitely took after me.”
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Describing his daughter as a “force of nature” and a “strong character”, Zoey’s death has had a huge impact on those she left behind.
Mr Williams wants to highlight the importance of attending cervical screenings.
“She had her appointment and it got cancelled for whatever reason, and she just never got round to rearranging it, so I think it’s really important for everyone to know how important it is to go to those appointments.
“My wife and I have been reading her diaries she was writing before she died. She didn’t want us to read them while she was still here.
“Obviously a lot of is heart-breaking and hard to read but a lot of it is also really funny. She had a great sense of humour and was always really matter-of-fact about things. We were laughing because she ended nearly every sentence with ‘lol.’”
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As next month is cervical cancer screening awareness month, Mr Williams and his son, Jack, are planning a 90km walk to raise awareness of the illness that sadly took Zoey.
A crowdfunding page has been set up for this and donations can be made here: bit.ly/42Zzj2X
Mr Williams continued: “It’s so important to go to these appointments, it could have saved Zoey.”
Zoey leaves behind her greatest legacy, her 12-year-old son, Mason.
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