The Kiama community is mourning the loss of Ashleigh Collins, who died in the early hours of Saturday morning after a lengthy battle with cancer.
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The 20-year-old Kiama resident had been fighting Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer occurring most frequently in young people.
Ms Collins was a typical year 12 student at Kiama High School, focused on her upcoming HSC, when she started to feel pain in her pelvis.
A cancer diagnosis soon followed.
Her life was resigned to a hospital bed as she began treatment for the tumours which eventually invaded every vertebra in her spine.
However, Ms Collins took part in the 2013 Kiama Relay for Life as a survivor, believing she had beaten the disease.
The cancer later returned.
Ms Collins was an active participant in the Kiama Relay for Life.
Last October, Ms Collins was presented with a trophy in honour of her team being the highest fund-raisers at that year’s event, which supports the Cancer Council.
She received so much support that ‘‘Team Ash’’ had to be split into two, the teams raising in excess of $25,000 between them.
She died about 3.55am on Saturday at her family home.