A PROUD Ulverston husband has paid a loving tribute to his "beautiful, bubbly, inspirational and determined" wife who lost her brave fight against cancer just a few days after their first wedding anniversary.

Sarah Lamb, 42, died on Wednesday at St Mary's Hospice with her family around her.

The mum-of-three and grandmother-of-one had courageously battled a rare form of cancer. She had been diagnosed with cancer in May 2015 and she was later told that the cancer was incurable.

Mrs Lamb kept a positive attitude throughout her treatments and fight, concentrating on creating wonderful memories for her family, particularly her youngest son, Michael, 13.

She was a proud member of the Lookin Good Feelin Great group, supporting others in their cancer battles, fundraising and raising awareness. Barrow-born Mrs Lamb, nee Bunting, featured as Miss July in the highly successful Lookin Good Feelin Great charity calendar, wearing a wedding dress made from balloons.

On April 23 last year she celebrated her dream wedding. The beaming bride married Keith Lamb, her partner of 16 years, with their son Michael being the best man and walking his mum down the aisle. The couple were the winners of The Bay radio station's wedding contest and they married at The Nan Tait Centre.

The family were able to mark the first wedding anniversary outside in the gardens of St Mary's Hospice, with Mrs Lamb then passing away three days later.

Mr Lamb, 53, said: "Sarah was bubbly and inspirational. She was determined, she never let anything faze her, even the bad news.

"She approached all of this with a big, happy smile on her face, it was one day at a time, but she tried to fill her days with fun, meeting up with people, always keeping herself busy, she couldn't keep still.

"Her smile was infectious. There was always humour, that's what Sarah was about, she didn't do sad.

"Sarah always said our house had to be fun, no tears and we kept to that. She was the boss at home, me and Michael towed the line and did as we were told.

"She was very well loved and she was a very loving person, and she was funny.

"I'm so lucky to have found Sarah. Sarah and Michael are the best things to ever have happened to me. She will always be in my memories and my thoughts.

"We have done so much, we packed so much into the last years, holidays and all sorts, it's been fun.

"The memories we have created, Lookin Good Feelin Great have made that possible. If it was not for all that kindness and generosity of people, we couldn't have created all those memories, so thank you.

"Life is going to change and my focus is Michael to make sure he gets that proper upbringing, Sarah has instructed me."

Mr Lamb said the support for his wife and the family has been "overwhelming".

The couple met when working at Glaxo Sports Club and went on to run a hotel together in Yorkshire before settling back in Ulverston.

The engineer remembers fondly how very beautiful his wife looked on their "absolutely perfect" wedding day.

"It was our first anniversary on Sunday. Sarah was not well enough to get out of bed, but at the hospice they have this area outside and we wheeled her bed outside and we had lights up and we had close family and friends there," he said.

Mrs Lamb had squamous cell carcinoma rectal cancer which spread to various organs, but her husband said not even chemotherapy and radiotherapy could slow his wife down.

He said: "She was celebrating life up until last month and then the illness came on that quickly." Mrs Lamb went to the hospice at the start of April. Her husband said she received wonderful care which was a "big comfort". Mr Lamb thanked everyone there, saying: "What a wonderful bunch of people from the cleaners and gardeners, to the nurses, doctors and girls in the cafe."

Mr Lamb is eternally grateful to the Lookin Good Feelin Great family. "Sarah and the girls are so inspirational, helping each other. The support from all the girls is amazing and Sarah gave support to them too. Sarah's whole attitude was positive, the bunch of ladies could chat about stuff, I knew she was in good hands. I don't know where we'd be without them.

"They are our family, her sisters, and that helped a hell of a lot over the years. She enjoyed being at the events with the girls."

Mrs Lamb is also the mum to twins Marcus and Christopher, 23, and grandma to Poppy, two.

There will be no black clothing and no hymns at Mrs Lamb's funeral service, which is now to take place on Wednesday May 17 at Barrow Crematorium at 10.30am (The service had been due to take place on May 9, but was postponed due to Mr Lamb breaking his leg).

The family want to see colour, particularly pink, and smiling is encouraged.

"We just want this to be a celebration of Sarah's life, so come with your smile. I wouldn't be offended if everyone came with a big smile on their faces. We want people to smile and remember what she was like, with a smile all the time."

The collection will be for St Mary's Hospice and the wake will be at the Devonshire Arms in Ulverston.

Mr Lamb has thanked everyone who has supported the family, including Lookin Good Feelin Great, St Mary's Hospice, Furness General Hospital Oncology Unit, The Christie, The Royal Preston Hospital and Mardix.


THE Lookin Good Feelin Great ladies says they are "sister by heart" and Sarah Lamb's "infectious smile" will stay with them always.

The group said: "In April of 2015 a group of ladies who have been affected by cancer got together to provide mutual support and raise funds for cancer related charities. The group have gone from strength to strength and continue to meet regularly.

"Sarah joined our group at this time and has been a stalwart of the group ever since, helping to raise funds and supporting others emotionally despite her own illness. Sarah was nominated and won The Bay Radio wedding competition in 2016. She was nominated by Amanda Rawlinson, another member of the group who sadly passed away recently.

"We celebrated the wedding of Sarah and Keith and the group choreographed and performed to sister Sledge "we are family " at the wedding as a surprise for Sarah. 'We weren't sisters by birth but we knew from the start, fate brought us together to be sisters by heart', this sums up the kind of relationship we all have. Sarah will always be part of our group, her infectious smile will stay with us always."