1. Rub your wristbands
whenyoumissMummy
I’ll never forget her
DOTING mum Jade Goody’s
dying gift to her two little
sons were special bands to
wear around their wrists . . .
to help comfort them after
her death.
The star gently told Bobby,
five, and four-year-old Freddie
to rub them whenever they
missed her.
This touching moment and other
extraordinary things Jade did to ease
the pain for her boys are detailed for the
first time today by the head of the
bereavement counselling charity she
turned to in her final weeks.
“Jade left two legacies. Her first was
her battle with cancer—but her second
was the inspirational way she prepared
her children for life without her,” says
Grief Encounter director Shelley
Gilbert.
“Jade gave Bobby and Freddie wrist
bands and told them to ‘rub them
whenever they missed mummy’. It was
heartbreaking.
“She also helped the boys prepare a
special wish list of things they really
wanted. These were really personal
items that would serve as special me-
mentos for them.
“One of the boys wanted a Manchester
United shirt and Jade made sure he got
it with loads of player signatures on it
as a bonus.” Shelley revealed the young-
sters also had sleepovers with their
mum in her final days—and she organ-
ised photos of their happy times to-
gether for a book the family are going to
publish.
Cervical cancer victim Jade, 27, con-
tacted Grief Encounter after learning
her illness was terminal. The series of
phone calls she had with Shelley, 46, left
both of them in tears.
Shelley, who lost her own mother at
the age of four and her father at nine,
reveals how Jade bravely stayed
positive—and even kept her sense of hu-
mour to the end.
Emotional
“We would both cry together,” says
Shelley. “I was talking to an incredible
young person about to lose her children
so they were always very emotional con-
versations.”
“You would think that conversations
like that would leave you in despair but
Jade was naturally very positive and her
dark sense of humour helped rally peo-
ple around her.
“Over 90 per cent of mums I meet who
are dying don’t want to go there—but
Jade prepared her kids in such an in-
credible way, I was in awe.
“She even wanted to talk to schools
about educating children on bereave-
ment and had thoughts about school
projects on the concept of heaven. We
talked a lot about making a book to help
other children with bereavement but un-
fortunately things took a downhill turn
for her rapidly.
“Her death affected so many people
but her journey was inspirational. It is
our policy to keep such matters confiden-
tial, but Jade stressed to me that she
wanted me to be open about her experi-
ences for the benefit of others. That
shows just how special she was.”
Ever since her rise to fame in Big
Brother, Jade has supported charities.
More than £100,000 of her fortune went
to causes while she was alive.
And she had a special place in her
heart for Marie Curie Cancer Care. The
charity will receive a minimum of
£25,000 from the sales of her diary of
her final days entitled Forever In My
Heart: The Story of My Battle Against
Cancer.
A spokeswoman for the group said:
“Marie Curie Nurses cared for her while
she was sick and this was another way
of her saying thankyou.”
The charity is also set to pick up at
least £10,000 from the sales of a photo-
graphic tribute book, entitled Jade—
Remember Me This Way, to be pub-
lished by the family.
After her own tough childhood—
neglected by her crack-smoking mum
and abandoned by her jailbird dad—Jade
used her stardom to help children. In
2006 the Big Brother star took part in
the London Marathon for the NSPCC.
She collapsed 21 miles into the race af-
ter admitting preparing for the event on
a diet of booze and curry. But she still
raised £1,700 for her cause.
Following the success of TV shows
What Jade Did Next and Jade’s Salon,
she launched TV show Jade’s PA and
gave the NSPCC another £1,500 from
the series’ proceeds.
The lives of hundreds of children
living in India were transformed when
Jade—repentant after being branded a
racist on her second Big Brother appear-
ance in 2007—donated £100,000 to
charities across the country.
Generous
She gave £25,000 to runaway chil-
dren’s group Anubhav and donated
food, clothes and medicine to 126 kids
looked after by another charity, Railway
Children.
Proceeds from a planned auction of
Jade’s possessions are expected to go to
Cancer Research—and Jade’s plight
gave awareness of cervical cancer a mas-
sive boost as the star campaigned for
more stringent screening.
Robert Music—director of cervical
cancer charity Jo’s Trust—says: “We
normally get about 8,000 unique hits to
our website but in March alone we had
around 22,000.
“It’s tragic Jade is no longer with us,
but the number of lives that have been
saved is a blessing and is one of the
things she wanted.”
greg.gobere@notw.co.uk
DOZENS of Britain’s
best-known celebs,
political leaders and
religious figures have
paid tribute to Jade
since her death.
Here are just a few
of their comments:
l STEPHEN FRY
“A Princess Di from
the wrong side of the
tracks. All impulsive
spirit and smiles.”
lSIMON COWELL
“My heart goes out
to Jack, the boys and
the whole family.”
lGORDON BROWN
“She was a coura-
geous woman both in
life and death.”
l DAVID CAMERON
“Her legacy will be to
save the lives of more
young women in the
future.”
lKIMBERLEY WALSH
(talking about Jade’s
last TV documentary)
“It was a really brave
and positive thing that
she did.”
lAMY WINEHOUSE
“Jade was a beautiful
and good soul.”
lJONATHAN ROSS
“I liked her an awful
lot.”
lKATHERINE JENKINS
“Jade was so strong
and brave. She will
always be remembered
with respect and admi-
ration.”
lRICHARD MADELEY
“She may have had a
lousy education but
she was very switched
on. She also had a very
big heart.”
lKERRY KATONA
“She was hilarious and
really genuine. She
was an inspiration.”
lANTONY COSTA
“I was honoured to be
part of her wedding.
When she walked
down the aisle, she
looked so stunning,
almost like a Greek
goddess statue.”
lROWAN WILLIAMS,
ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY
“I don’t think there
was any way, sadly, in
which she could avoid
the public attention.
“But I think it was
used not to aggrandise
her but to tell people
what mattered to her
–and say something
about the values she
tried to live with.”
EXCLUSIVEEXCLUSIVE
LAST MESSAGE TO BOYS
BAND OF COMFORT: Elder son Bobby, wearing his special wristband, with brother Freddie and dad Jeff Brazier
BY GREG GOBERE
MY BOYS: Enjoying day at beach
LOVING MUM: Before cancer struck
VIEW
FROM
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TRIBUTE: Amy
4 JADE REMEMBERED, April 5, 2009