FORMER Stroud nurse and grandmother, Tessa Elam, has lost her courageous fight against cancer.

Tessa, 72, was in Tijuana, Mexico, receiving treatment for a rare form of liver cancer when she took a turn for the worst and died just after 6pm on Tuesday, September 16.

The Stroud News & Journal launched a campaign four weeks ago to raise money for Tessa’s treatment at the San Diego Clinic in Mexico after she was diagnosed with secondary metastatic liver cancer and told she had just weeks to live.

Readers were extremely generous, with people dropping off £100 and £200 cheques to the office in Lansdown, and in the end the campaign raised £1,110 to help take some of the financial burden away from Tessa’s family.

Tessa’s three children Mark, Miles and Clare Playne would like to say a very big warm hearted thank you for all the wonderful and most generous support they received.

They told the SNJ: “Although mum was very poorly, she was incredibly touched with all the well wishes and generosity.”

Tessa, who was born in York, spent her teenage years at boarding school before travelling to Florence to work as a nanny.

After her time abroad, she moved back to Henley where she went to secretarial college and met her future husband David Playne.

In 1967 she moved to Avening to run a design studio with David, and raised her three children between Avening and Minchinhampton.

At the age of 40, she took the brave step to start a new career and trained as a nurse.

Tessa, who also has a four-year-old grandson called Leo, was involved in massage therapy for cancer patients whilst working at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London as a volunteer.

She worked for years as a sister in Stroud and as a community nurse at Weavers Croft, where the staff recently raised £150 to help pay for Tessa’s treatment.

According to her children, she also had a passion and love for the summer music festivals and only last summer was at Glastonbury dancing to the Rolling Stones.

“She never had a bad word for anyone,” said Tessa’s daughter, Clare.

“Mum made friends wherever she went and her light and incredibly generous spirit will be missed.”

A service will be held at noon on Friday, October 17 at Avening Church. All are welcome.