THEY were not just mother and daughter, they were best friends.
Jo and Emily Pierce spent a lot of their time together and believed they had many more years to come.
But when Emily was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, just after her 18th birthday in 2009, it was a moment neither of them ever expected.
Despite extensive treatment and a bone marrow transplant, fitness fanatic Emily lost her fight for life in November 2010, aged just 19.
Now, as the fourth ann- iversary of Emily's death approaches, Miss Pierce, 46, has spoken of the daily struggle of life without her, but also of her continued determination to keep her daughter's memory alive.
"We were really close," said Miss Pierce, of Skidby.
"Eventually, it hits you that she is not away, she's not at a friend's house and she's not coming back.
"You see friends move on, grow up, get married and have their own children, and you see people younger than Emily now celebrating birthdays that Emily didn't reach. It's almost like a physical pain, an ache.
"I was in a shop a few weeks ago and there was someone with a hat on who looked like Emily.
"For that tiny split second, it hits you all over again. It never goes away because you never expect your children to go before you."
Emily chose to undergo the majority of her treatment at the Queen's Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.
Soon after her diagnosis, she contracted an infection through the medication, or Hickman line, in her chest, which left her fighting for her life in intensive care.
Miss Pierce said: "The doctors told me they didn't think she would pull through, but Emily was a fighter.
"She eventually came out of intensive care. But she had so many other complications, there was a doubt she would be well enough to ever have the transplant."
Miss Pierce said staff on Ward 33 at Castle Hill "busted a gut" to get her home for Christmas Eve.
Little did she know it would be the last Christmas she would spend with her daughter.
"She started to improve when she came out of hospital," said Miss Pierce.
"She was so determined to become strong enough for the treatment and always practised exercises the physio gave her before she needed to."
Emily finally underwent the bone marrow transplant at St James's Hospital in Leeds in August 2010 after a successful match from an anonymous donor in Germany.
Due to the treatment and procedure weakening her immune system, Emily was not allowed in public places for 100 days, so she was looking forward to a small gathering at her house to mark the occasion.
Sadly, the transplant was not successful and she was admitted to Castle Hill Hospital in November 2010, but deteriorated quickly.
Miss Pierce said: "Due to the tests they were doing on Emily, I knew it was serious and alarm bells started ringing.
"The consultant said the leukaemia had come back. Emily was going downhill rapidly.
"They said she could have more chemotherapy, but they didn't think there was any more they could do.
"I didn't want to ask questions, but I understood what they were telling me.
"I was with Emily the whole time but she could tell by the tone in my voice something was wrong."
Emily made it to 98 days after her bone marrow transplant, narrowly missing out on her longed-for gathering with her friends.
She raised money for various charities throughout her illness.
Since she passed away, her mother has set up Kickstart Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Cancer Support, raising more than £8,000 to provide resources for teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer in Hull and the East Riding.
Miss Pierce is currently adding the finishing touches to the charity's main annual event – a charity dinner and fashion show at Willerby Manor Hotel in Well Lane, Willerby, at 7pm on Saturday, November 8.
She said: "It's keeping Emily's memory alive. She was really determined.
"If things had turned out differently, she would have wanted to go into schools to give talks and throw herself into fundraising. My way of dealing with things is to throw myself into being busy."
Tickets for the fashion show cost £30 and can be booked by calling 07896 310791 or emailing kickstarttyacs@gmail.com
