The mum-of-one died in her mother's arms after a two-year fight against cervical cancer, leaving behind son Alex, two, and newly-wed husband Colin, 27.

"She was just amazing. Even if I had the best vocabulary in the world I still couldn't think of a word that would be good enough for her," said Colin.

"Our wedding was the proudest moment of my life. Out of all the lads in the world she chose me. And she's got the best mam and dad in the world."

Claire's family – who, like she did, all work at the Child Benefit office in Washington – said the 23-year-old's own suffering did not stop her from spending every possible moment helping others with the illness.

She was a member of the Joe's Trust cervical cancer charity's website, and her dad Bob, 55, said no matter how ill she was she would talk to other sufferers online, giving them support and offering advice.

"Claire would always type messages in bright pink letters and people say when they signed in they would see pink and know it was Claire," he said.

"We've had over 200 cards from all over the world. You don't realise when you're so close to someone how special they are to so many other people."

Members of the site are now raising money to take two-year-old Alex on a trip to Disneyland, because Claire had always wanted to take her son to the theme park. They have already raised £1,600 in online donations.
Claire was diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 21 – four years before she was eligible for a smear test which would have picked up her symptoms at an early stage.

Tragically, if she had been born just a few years earlier, before the minimum age for the screening test was increased from 20 to 25, doctors may have been able to save her life.

Claire was treated with chemotherapy and radiation, and it was thought the treatment had been a success.

But the young mum's family were devastated when she was told the disease had spread through her pelvis and the cancer had become incurable.

Desperate to save his daughter's life, Bob took Claire to top experts in Harley Street in London, but even they said they could not save his precious child.

"They said they didn't have a magic wand, but wished they did. When we came out I was crushed, absolutely crushed. I couldn't believe she had the strength to stand there. She was so strong."

Claire married Colin in a special ceremony in Las Vegas in April this year, which her family watched by a live video link up from their home in Roche Court, Glebe, Washington.

No sooner had the happy couple returned home, however, than Claire's condition began to deteriorate.

Bob said Claire was adamant she did not want to go into a hospice, and he took some comfort in the fact that his daughter died at home with her family around her.

Claire's family, which includes brother James, 20, sister Rachael, 16, and grandmother Joy, said she never stopped having fun and Colin said she was "still out partying" almost up until she died.

He said his daughter had been lying in bed with her mother on September 18, just a few days after her 23rd birthday, when she finally passed away.

"She couldn't even lift herself across the bed. She asked us to push her closer to her mam. They were practically touching faces.

"She put her arm round her mam and went to sleep for about half an hour," said Bob.

When she awoke, Claire asked her brother to take her to the bathroom, and her final words were to thank him for his help.

"She just said 'thank you James' and put her head back and died," said Bob.

Claire and her family have spent the last few years campaigning to see the minimum age for a smear test dropped.

Women under 25 are often turned away when asking for a smear test because they are not old enough, and in some cases have developed cervical cancer at a later date.

"The UK has one of the highest age limits in the world," said Mum Lyn, 46: "If we had lived elsewhere then we would not have been sitting here today without Claire."

The 23-year-old's funeral takes place on Tuesday at 12pm at Washington Parish Church before she is buried in a pink coffin at Houghton Cemetery.