'She was a single mother living on a pension - she got sick out of nowhere'

Teressa had just cancelled her life insurance due to cost-of-living pressures when she got the news that would turn her life upside down.

Teressa had just cancelled her life insurance due to cost-of-living pressures when she got the news that would turn her life upside down.

The mother-of-four was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer, which came as a big shock to her and her three daughters Jade, Ebony and Amber.

Teressa’s brother Jordan told Kidspot his older sister went through radiation and chemotherapy after her diagnosis, and “things were looking pretty good”.

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“A few months after she seemed to be doing okay, she had a turn for the worse,” he said.

“She ended up with lesions on her brain, and unfortunately that became almost impossible to stop.”

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"She got sick again out of nowhere"

While Teressa was never technically in remission, Jordan said she’d started to look “quite healthy” before the cancer spread to her brain.

“After about 12 months of treatment, she started coming to us with good news,” he said.

“She told us it was starting to go away and she was feeling better. She was looking better as well.

“Then all of a sudden she just got really sick again out of nowhere. She’d managed to get rid of it from her lungs, but it ended up in her brain.”

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"We really didn't know how to deal with it"

Teressa passed away in May, but not before fighting as hard as she could to make sure her children weren’t left with any big debts once she was gone.

“She’d just cancelled her life insurance policy due to the financial strain from Covid and the rising cost of living,” Jordan said.

“They’d raised her policy again, and it just got to a point where she didn’t think it was necessary anymore. She’d been relatively healthy most of her life, and didn’t seem to have any major health issues.

“It wasn’t even three months later that she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

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“We really didn’t know how to deal with it. Teressa did most of it herself, she organised some funeral cover to take that strain off her girls, and she did a hell of a job at leaving them debt free.

“She was a single mother living on a pension, and she was still putting money aside to make sure she was ahead with all her bills. Her kids don’t have anything to really get started, but she’s given them a clean slate.”

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"Her kids meant everything to her"

Jordan said his sister’s push to make sure her kids weren’t left destitute was far from surprising, as she would do “anything for her kids”.

“She was a very devoted mother,” he said. “Her kids meant everything to her, and she would have done anything for them.

“That’s why she ended up working so hard to make sure everything was in place as well as it could have been.

“She was so mad at herself for cancelling the life insurance policy, but she just got on with it and did what she had to.”

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"They didn't believe it could have happened"

Now her oldest daughter Jade is taking care of her sisters Ebony, 14, and Amber, 12, at the tender age of 21 while mourning the loss of her mother.

Her older brother Zach moved away from home as a teenager, and the family lost their father to a heart attack 10 years ago.

“They don’t want to leave the family home, and they want to stay together,” Jordan said.

“They want to keep the house pretty much the same as what mum had it, and I think they’re keen to start figuring it all out for themselves.

“I’ve tried to spend as much time as possible with them to help them transition properly and give Jade someone to talk to.

“My partner has also been a major help in this situation because she has experience working with kids in similar situations, so she’s been invaluable.

“The kids are all a bit up and down, but they’re coping. Jade called me this morning, for example, to say she was feeling a bit sad this morning because they went out to visit Teressa’s grave.

“They still really haven’t had time to properly grieve. The morning after their mum passed away, it was almost like they didn’t believe it could have happened.”

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Teressa got to celebrate Mother's Day less than a week before she passed away. Picture: Supplied

"We're trying to help them cover all their bases"

Jordan and his partner have started a GoFundMe to help raise money for the three girls as they navigate the next stages of their lives without their parents.

“Jade’s taken over the lease, and she’s just sorting out payments from the government, but bills are going to start to roll in,” he said.

“We’re trying to help them cover all their bases and have a bit of money to buy goods and pay bills and rent.

“They’ve got a nice little house, but it gets quite cold and they’ve got older appliances, so if I’m trying to help them get everything a bit more up to date and help keep their cost of living down.”

To donate to the fundraiser, click here.

Originally published as 'She was a single mother living on a pension - she got sick out of nowhere'