Jade Goody's 'ridiculously cruel' death and how she defied doctors for son

As Bobby Brazier's proud dad Jeff gets ready to watch his son's debut in the Strictly Come Dancing studio, it's hard not to think of Jade Goody.

The Big Brother star tragically died from cancer when she was just 27 in 2009, leaving the EastEnders star and his younger brother Freddie heartbroken. Sadly, Bobby, now 20, has said he doesn't miss his mum because he "wasn't with her long enough", but the way in which Jade's life was cut short will haunt many of her fans forever.

After bursting onto our screens in 2002 in the third series of Big Brother, Jade found out she had cervical cancer when she was on the Indian version of the reality TV series, Bigg Boss in 2008. She was just 15 when she first contracted the deadly human papilloma virus (HPV) and abnormal cells were found during a smear test. She had them removed, but two years later they returned and a second operation took place to burn away the cells.

After the birth of her second son Freddy in 2004, even more abnormal cells were found. But according to Jade, doctors were against removing any more of her cervix in case it became too short to carry future pregnancies. "They said I was okay, though," she told Now magazine.

Three times she had rogue cells removed, but when a letter asking her to return for a fourth time, Jade ignored it through 'fear'. "When I heard I had more abnormal cells I thought, 'this is the fourth time I've been told I need to have the same operation now,'" she told Heat magazine. "Once you have them burnt off they shouldn't come back, I was too scared."

Even with a hysterectomy and a year of gruelling chemotherapy the reality star was told her chances of surviving the deadly disease were just 50 percent. However, despite facing death, it was her sons who Jade thought of as the former dental nurse fought valiantly, undergoing several painful procedures in a bid to stay alive for Bobby and Freddie. However, on Valentine's Day 2009, her world collapsed when doctors told Jade the cancer had spread to her liver, bowel and groin and was now terminal.

Given just months to live, she was admitted to a hospice after the drugs made her hallucinate, but was allowed to return to her house in Essex, where her dining room was fitted with a hospital bed.

Despite her devastating diagnosis, Jade was determined to live her life to and on February 22 she married her 19-year-old boyfriend Jack Tweed at Down Hall Country House Hotel in Harfield Heath, Essex, in front of 200 guests including Richard Madeley, Paul O'Grady and Judy Finnigan.

Despite her rapidly failing health, she astounded everyone by not only finding the strength to walk down the aisle - but also to dance on tables. Jade's grandfather John Craddock told the Daily Mirror: "You should have seen her dancing with all those dolly birds. "She was jumping up and down dancing like a jive bunny. It was brilliant. She had a wild time."

The happy day left the Bermondsey-born star drained and exhausted, however, the celebration seemed to give Jade a sense of peace ahead of the tragedy that was to come. "I've had the happiest day of my life. Now I'm ready to go to heaven," she told OK! magazine after her nuptials.

With just 48 hours to live, Jade astounded doctors by summoning strength they didn't know she had. Drifting in and out of consciousness, when she heard her son Bobby, then five, crying in his sleep, she defied her medical team by using the last of her last strength to get out of bed, climb the stairs and put Bobby on her back.

"She wasn't eating and the doctor said her health was deteriorating rapidly. But that night Jade got up, walked upstairs and pulled [Bobby] up onto her back and brought him to her hospital bed," her close friend Kevin Adams told The Sun. He continued: "The next day I told the doctor what had happened and she said, 'no Jade doesn't have the strength to do that because everything in her body is failing'. I told her that I saw it with my own eyes. She was able to do it because those kids meant everything to her. That memory will live with me forever, it is so special to me."

Jade died in her sleep in the early hours of March 22 - Mother's Day. But her legacy has lived on with the number of women having smear tests increasing by 12 per cent following her death.

The father of Jade's children Bobby and Freddie paid tribute to his former partner this year, 14 years after her death. Taking to Instagram, he shared: "14 years ago today. Hard not to feel flat. The boys losing the most loving and protective mother any child could have hoped for at such a young age will never not feel ridiculously cruel. The most charismatic, loyal, inquisitive, adaptable and switched on person I’ve known. Her strength lives on in her children and I wanted to take a moment to honour her this evening and share that with you.”

Jade's son Bobby makes his debut on Strictly Come Dancing tonight with his proud dad, Jeff, no doubt watching from the studio. So, as we wish the rising star the very best as he struts his stuff on the dance floor, we're sure his devoted mum would be extremely proud.