Tears flow at funeral for Gold Coast’s much-loved 23yo melanoma campaigner Ashleigh
Under a century-old evergreen tree and with pastel pink balloons blowing in the breeze, heartbroken parents Tony and Tracey Simrajh said their final goodbyes to their beloved daughter Ashleigh.
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UNDER a century-old evergreen tree and with pastel pink balloons blowing in the breeze, heartbroken parents Tony and Tracey Simrajh said their final goodbyes to their beloved daughter Ashleigh.
“I know she’s standing here beside me, I truly believe that, and I know when I’m talking about her she’s going to roll her eyes, because that’s what she does when dad talks about her,” said Mr Simrajh of his 23-year-old, who died after a fierce battle with melanoma on September 15.
Her funeral was at Braeside in Merrimac on Saturday, exactly two weeks after the Gold Coaster married her fiancé Jason Hale, and everyone was wearing bright colours as requested by Ash.
Ashleigh first noticed a lump on her thigh in 2017 but by the time she was properly diagnosed in May last year the cancer had spread and she became terminal. Her family have launched legal action against two doctors who failed to diagnose her cancer.
PM SCOTT MORRISON’S SPECIAL WEDDING MESSAGE TO ASHLEIGH
Through tears, but with his daughter Chelsea at his side, Mr Simrajh spoke about the blustery and rainy day on which Ashleigh was born on Friday the 13th of June 1997 in Melbourne.
“Tracey was already in love with the child she had growing inside her, but as soon as she was born I immediately fell in love with my baby girl,” he said.
“The minute she was born she was just the apple of my eye.”
Mr Simrajh told the 40 or so friends and family that his “strong-willed melanoma warrior” was dressed in her pyjamas, because her favourite place was in bed.
“Ash and I had a special bond, she became my best friend. Ash and I were best friends first, and father and daughter second,” he said, choking back tears.
“Mum provided the emotional support, Trace has done an amazing job in providing emotional support for her, and I provide all the problem solving skills for her.
“And in that way together we were able to bring her up to be an amazing young lady who has been taken way too soon from us all.”
As a child, Ashleigh was known for making sure her classmates at Guardian Angels Primary School were in a straight line, in height order, before they went into the classroom.
Childhood friend Fran described Ash as kind, selfless and intelligent and someone who was always “by my side, there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for you”.
“You’ve changed my perspective on life and I promise to always spread your story. I know you will always be by my side for ever and always.”
After an 18-hour drive from Townsville, two of Ashleigh’s besties, who she worked alongside side with at McDonalds in 2014, spoke about how they have Ash’s tattoo on their ankles.
“Ash had a bucket list and we’ve decided to make a bucket list for us that we will abide by for our own lives, and she’s coming along with us every step of the way,” they said.
“She was the best mother ever to beautiful Floyd (her cat). And Ash, we can’t say we’ll watch every Bombers game for you but we do promise to celebrate their every win.
“We promise to have a drink with you at every celebration and we promise to keep you and your story alive – we love you chicky babe.”
Margaret was a nurse who helped the family up until Ashleigh’s passing and she said that the day she met Ash, the young battler said to her: “I hope you’re a good nurse”.
“Well Ashleigh,” said Margaret, “I hope that I was, because it was an honour and a privilege to know you and to look after you and to watch your rock (Jason) sit beside you and calm you.”
Mr Simrajh urged friends and family to ensure that Ash’s story doesn’t finish with her death.
”Her story needs to be spread, not just about a beautiful young lady who passed away too soon, not about an amazing wedding which it was, to an amazing guy Jason, and not just about someone who got cancer,” he said.
“Ash’s story is about people who we trust, doctors, not doing their jobs properly. Her story is that if you don’t feel right, if a doctor doesn’t do the basics, go see someone else.”
“Ashleigh, you’ll never be forgotten, you’re always going to be in our heads and you’ll always be in our hearts.”
As Ashleigh’s flower-covered white casket was taken to a nearby hearse, her parents walked slowly behind her, in what would be their last few steps alongside their daughter.
Mrs Simrajh, supported by her elderly father, was overcome with grief as she let half a dozen butterflies free in Ashleigh’s memory.
Attendees formed a guard of honour as Ashleigh’s casket was slowly driven out of the driveway, with quiet clapping lead by Mr Simrajh.
The devastated dad followed the hearse carrying his “best friend” out of the gate and to the road so he could catch one last glimpse of his beloved daughter.
EARLIER September 18
Family and friends of much-loved melanoma campaigner Ashleigh Hale (nee Simrajh) have been asked to respect the Gold Coaster’s wishes that her funeral on Saturday be “colourful and fun”.
The 23-year-old passed away on Tuesday morning after a long but fierce battle with melanoma. She spent the last few months of her life raising awareness about the importance of skin checks and getting second opinions from doctors.
She married the love of her life Jason Hale on September 5 at Sea World Resort.
“No black suits or dresses, Ashleigh wants her funeral to be colourful and fun,” father Tony Simrajh told one invited guest.
ASHLEIGH’S SKIN CANCER MESSAGE GOES GLOBAL, PM SENDS LETTER
Mr Simrajh also wrote on the family’s Go Fund Me page that his daughter passed away on September 15 at 1.10am “surrounded by her family and husband by her beside at home”.
“It was the hardest thing that any of us have ever had to witness.
“Right up to the end Ashleigh fought and while she wanted to continue fighting her body said that it was no longer able to continue the fight.
“Ashleigh’s celebration of her life will be this Saturday and we are making sure that we give her the most beautiful celebration that we can.”
“Thank you to everyone who reached out to Ashleigh not only with donations but also with messages of support, they really meant a lot to Ashleigh and the entire family.
“All of you helped us make Ashleigh’s last month the best that we possibly could and she also had the wedding of her dreams to a man that she really loved.”
Mr Simrajh told the Bulletin that he wanted Ash remembered for the “fight she put up which amazed her doctors, the fight and love she had for life, the kindness she always showed everyone”.
“The message about not only getting your skin checked but if they don’t do tests to go and see someone else. The message to save other people is her story”.
EARLIER … September 15
JUST 10 days after marrying the love of her life, terminally-ill Gold Coast melanoma campaigner Ashleigh Simrajh has lost her “brave and strong” fight with cancer.
Her husband Jason Hale shared a heartbreaking tribute to his 23-year-old wife on social media on Tuesday morning, just hours after her death.
“Words cannot describe the pain I’m feeling right now, I’m absolutely devastated and my heart is completely shattered,” he wrote.
“You were so brave and strong and I know that you tried your absolute best fighting this battle, you couldn’t have tried any harder than you did.”
ASHLEIGH SENT MESSAGES OF LOVE FROM PRIME MINISTER AND PREMIER
“From very early on you had a special place in my heart and that special place will always be there for you and only you.”
The young couple were married on September 5 at Sea World Resort after a call-out from the Bulletin to the Gold Coast Girls in Business Facebook page in August.
More than 200 offers of help were received and thanks to generous locals, Ashleigh and Jason married weeks later.
Hours after the death of his wife, Mr Hale wrote about the couple’s plans to travel the world, have ‘cute kids’ and grow old together.
“I think growing old with you was something I wanted to do the most. Not much else mattered to me than to just be there with you for my whole life,” he said.
“Knowing that these things won’t ever happen rips me apart inside. I’ll never stop thinking about them.”
Ashleigh was a former student of Guardian Angels and Aquinas College and was working at McDonald’s when she first visited a GP about an unusual lump in her thigh. She later visited a general surgeon. Neither took a biopsy.
It was not until May 2019 that she was finally diagnosed with malignant melanoma but by then it was too late. The cancer had spread to her lungs, lymph nodes and liver.
In August this year she was told she had only a few days to live, but she battled on with her parents Tracy and Tony and Jason at her side.
In the months before her death, Ashleigh devoted any energy she had to spreading the message about the importance of skin checks; she even received a thankyou letter from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Ashleigh’s dad Tony said the family had been contacted by hundreds of people from across the world who had got a skin check because of his daughter’s message.
“Dozens of people have had melanomas diagnosed because of Ashleigh’s determination to spread the word, she’s saved hundreds of lives,” he said.
Mr Simrajh plans to write a book about his daughter in a hope to continue spreading her message in regards to the importance of skin checks.
He said Ashleigh was rushed to hospital in an ambulance on September 11 for urgent medical treatment, but they fought to get her home the next day.
“She is comfortable and pain free, slept the entire night, she sleeps sitting up surrounded by pillows as she can’t lay down due to the fluid around her lungs,” Mr Simrajh wrote on a Go Fund Me page set up to support the family while they stopped work to care for their daughter.
“Ashleigh’s message re: melanoma and incompetent doctors has literally reached millions of people and she has definitely saved lives which is what she is trying to do.
“Please keep sharing her story and saving lives, all Ash wants is no one else to have to go through what she has gone through.”
Mr Hale said being able to call “Ashy” his wife “meant the absolute world to me and I’m so grateful the day happen”.
“I really loved caring for you Ashy, it gave me purpose. I loved making you laugh with bad jokes, making you smile all the time. You had the most beautiful smile ever, something that I won’t ever forget.
“I really don’t know what I’m going to do without you now. I’m so lost and feel completely empty inside. It doesn’t even feel real to me that you’re gone, it just feels like I’m in this horrible dream which I can’t escape,” he wrote.
“You were my best friend. I don’t know where abouts you are now, but I hope I can find you again very soon.
“For now my precious angel, fly high.”
EARLIER: September 5 – written by Jodie Calcott
Gold Coast terminally-ill melanoma campaigner Ashleigh Simrajh, 23, has had her dying wish realised; to marry her beloved fiance Jason Hale
In a race against time, the newlyweds married at Sea World Resort on Saturday.
“We were shocked how strong she was to get through ceremony. The ceremony itself was so emotional and amazing to see,” Mr Simrajh said.
“There were tears everywhere to be honest.”
Mr Simrajh said Ashleigh was wheeled on a bed into the reception with her husband laying by her side.
Ashleigh’s energy had depleted by time she got to the reception, he said.
Mr Simrajh said there was a unique twist to the father and daughter dance which was to their “special song” Count on Me by Bruno Mars.
“Ash was in her bed and we put the words to the song on everyone’s chair,” he said.
“Everyone stood up and sang the words to her.
“I thought she’d yell at me, but she had a real smile on her face, so that was good.”
The couple was surrounded by 50 family and friends, some of whom travelled from throughout Queensland to be there.
For those who couldn’t attend, Mr Simrajh said it was live-streamed on Facebook.
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He said the wedding was made possible by generous donations through Gold Coast Girls in Business.
“We can’t thank them enough. To try and pull off a wedding in five or six days to the level we did would have been impossible without their help.
“Sea World have been amazing, they have gone over and beyond anything anyone could ask for.”
One of the suppliers was wedding planner and stylists Johanna Fielding from Boho Luxe & Co.
Ms Fielding said the wedding was “beautiful” and reflected Ashleigh's favourite colour.
“The reception flowers were light pink and the all the guests arrived in light pink, I didn’t know that was going to happen, it was beautiful.”
“Ashleigh was really well for the ceremony and her and Jason’s vows were so heartfelt and lovely.
“It was very sad and very beautiful at the same time.”
A former student of Guardian Angels and Aquinas College, Ashleigh was working at McDonald’s when she first visited a GP about an unusual lump in her thigh. She later visited a general surgeon. Neither took a biopsy.
It was not until May last year that she was finally diagnosed with malignant melanoma but it was too late. The cancer had spread to her lungs, lymph nodes and liver.
The 23-year-old has devoted the past few months to spreading the message about the importance of skin checks.
Mr Simrajh said Ashleigh was told by doctors at the end of August she only had days to live but was “still fighting”.
He said the newlywed was still focused on ensuring no one else goes through what she is and will continue to spread the message about the importance of skin checks.
The Simrajh family would like to thank the following suppliers:
Boho Luxe & Co
Sea World Resort
Robyn Wagner Celebrations
Willow & Finch Photography
Guido Pezz
Wilde Botanicals
Supper Club Co
Love Lara Jewellery
The Confetti Gift Co
Oma and Eve Cake Studio
Lucid Industries
Coastal Cookie Co
Emilia Maria Makeup & Hair
Makeup by Theresa
Love Me Knot Bridal
Jacara Bridal
Bruno Suits
Jade Manu Music
Arthur Bristowe
Southern Lights Candle Co
Scenic Rim Wedding Hire
Originally published as Tears flow at funeral for Gold Coast’s much-loved 23yo melanoma campaigner Ashleigh