My mum Gurdev Kaur was born on Saturday 1st January 1944. She was a very kind-hearted lady and she came to England in the 1960s from India, and she made a life here with my father. She had six children and 20 grandchildren.

She had some talents such as cooking amazing Indian foods that required a skill which only she knew how to do. She was fast at it too. She was also very skilled at sewing and she used to make clothes, duvet covers, pillow cases, curtains, hair accessories and she even used to make net curtains and tableclothes.

Her hobbies were watching TV, drinking tea, sewing, cooking and she loved dogs.

People used to comment on how young she looked and how pretty she was. She used to get a lot of compliments. She used to like makeup and had her nails and toenails painted most of the time.

She was helpful and tried her best to help others who needed money and used to often give money to the homeless. She spent a lot of her time helping family members financially as well.

My mother was dyslexic and couldn't read and write or speak English. Even though she had been here in the UK for so many years, she struggled with this but managed to get by in her day-to-day life.

She was a gentle person and growing up I do not remember her ever shouting at me, she always looked out for me and made sure I had nice things to remember.

Things started to change for her when she reached the age of 61. She was telling me she has stomach cramps and if I could get her something for it. The medicine worked only for a short time and she told me she was doing OK; she would tell me this on the phone as I didn't live near her in London anymore. I went to see her at her home and she looked very sick but she was still trying to cook and I have no idea how she managed like this without telling anyone. I took her to the hospital and when she got there she told the consultant she was feeling sick, vomiting and had even collapsed. She was walking around with pains in her stomach that she described as labour pains. They did some tests on her and it was then when we found out she actually had bowel cancer and the doctor told me I that it was lucky I'd brought her in as she could have passed away that night.

She went through her treatments, which were tough, plus chemotherapy, and had to have a big operation. She was scared. It was a very difficult time and after her stay in hospital, she was slowly getting a bit better and although it did take time, she went to all her check-ups which were for a few years, but each time they checked they said everything was looking good and it's unlikely the cancer would come back now. She was lucky.

Not long after this she was diagnosed with renal failure, which was a life-changing experience for her. Her life was now a dialysis machine, which she got used to but she was fed up of it too. The hospital transported her to and from her dialysis appointments, three times a week. She was very well known in Charing Cross hospital and Hammersmith hospital. They used to be amazed by her too. She had now been a renal patient for nine whole years.

I was very surprised once when she took three buses to come and see me. I didn't know she was doing this and I don't know anyone with renal failure who would have done this! She managed it OK and she wouldn't ask anyone for help, even trying to do her own shopping with her shopping trolley.

She also went through hip replacement surgery, which was really hard for her and she found it hard to understand her physio exercises afterwards. She started to realise that walking was not the same as before and she needed the help of a zimmer frame to get anywhere. She stopped doing any shopping after this as she wasn't able to anymore but she did still try and cook because this was always her passion.

She had to have stents put in her heart and had other operations, and even a stroke. With the stroke I managed to save her again because it happened when I went to visit her and I noticed she didn't look right and that's when I called the ambulance and took her in. In 2019 she stayed in hospital for some time. She was in an induced coma and I will never forget the way she looked. It all looked serious. I was talking to her but I don't know if she could hear me; it was very hard to see her like this. Weeks were going by and the hospital called me to say that they think we should gather the family together to say goodbye. Not long after they called me to say that there was 'good news' and that she had just woken up! We couldn't believe it and were so happy. We started to get used to the idea of my mum just always pulling through somehow.

She didn't like worrying people and I think she used to keep a lot of things to herself. Whenever she saw us and my son she would give him sweets and money.

On Tuesday 6th October 2020, she was rushed into hospital again after having pain in her knee; this was quite typical of mum, going back and forth to hospital a lot ans she was there for two weeks but we were told she was deteriorating. Later when I called, I was told she was also picking up again so I thought this is just mum being a fighter.

On the 20th October at around 11:00 p.m. I had a phone call from her where she said nothing and put the phone down. She left a voice message which I heard in the early hours on the 21st as I had been in bed at the time she called.

On the 21st October, she was scheduled to have dialysis in the morning, so I knew that was the plan. I kept in touch with the hospital daily to see how she was. I called them at 8:30 a.m. to see how she was and all I heard was silence and then a male nurse saying 'I'm sorry'. I didn't know why he was sorry so I asked him what he meant and asked if my mum was still there. He told me that she is not here anymore.

She had died of renal failure as she was at the end stage of it and I never got to say goodbye to her.

She was a very strong lady and you can tell that she fought for her health and tried her hardest with it. She will never be forgotten and is an inspiration to me with everything she had been through.

Bonnie, Gurdev's daughter