My daughter wanted to change the world for the better...and she did

Laura Nuttall's inspirational bucket list included meeting Michelle Obama, performing live with Peter Kay and spreading awareness of the aggressive brain cancer that would take her life at 23. Now her mother Nicola has taken up the baton

- Simon Hemelryk

WHEN Nicola Nuttall attended an awards ceremony honouring community champions this month, her thoughts instinctively turned to her daughter. "I thought, 'Oh, Laura would have absolutely loved this'," smiles Nicola bravely, recalling projects which included addressing loneliness among MS sufferers and developing a test to stop babies going deaf.

Her eldest child became known to millions as an inspirational campaigner, who achieved an extraordinary bucket list of adventures before her death aged 23 from brain cancer on May 22 last year. Laura was expected to only live for one year after her initial diagnosis in 2018 but defied doctors' expectations by living another four with vigour.

Her determination meant she graduated with a 2:1 in politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Manchester in July 2022 after taking a break for treatment.

Two weeks ago, Nicola attended the university's Make a Difference Awards for social responsibility with her husband Mark and daughter Gracie, 22, to receive Laura's posthumous award for increasing awareness and fundraising for research into the disease.

"She was so passionate about changing the world for the better," beams Nicola, 54. "She used to float into the sitting room, watch the news on TV and say, 'Right, what can we do about what's going on?' If she were around now, she'd be explaining the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to us in fine detail."

Nicola, who runs a children's play centre, is speaking from her home in the village of Barrowford in rural Lancashire as she releases her memoir, The Stars Will Still Be There. It tells the story of Laura's four-year brain-cancer battle and her amazing bucket list, which included meeting Michelle Obama, piloting a Royal Navy ship and presenting the weather.

But the book also details the 23-year-old's incredible stoicism. She was a "massively ambitious" teenager, Nicola recalls, who wanted to be a diplomat or a spy.