Footy WAG Bec Judd has paid tribute to a close friend who died of cancer.
Mother-of-one Nicole Cooper was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in March 2017, soon after giving birth to her son Joshua, and died in Melbourne on Tuesday. She was 38.
Bec, who is on holiday in Whistler, Canada, with her family, said on Wednesday she was ‘so privileged’ to have shared ‘so many great times’ with her friend.
Footy WAG Bec Judd (right) has paid tribute to a close friend who died of cancer. Mother-of-one Nicole Cooper (centre left) diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in March 2017, soon after giving birth to her son Joshua, and died in Melbourne on Tuesday
Commenting on Nicole’s final Instagram post, which she wrote hours before her death, Bec wrote: ‘Oh, Nic. The bravest, most inspiring person I know. I have your back and will love your family hard, forever, as I do you.’
She then took to her own Instagram page to share photos of the pair together.
‘Heaven got a queen. Rest easy, my love. I’m so proud to be your friend and so privileged to have shared so many great times with you,’ she wrote.
‘I’ll open my arms and cuddle Josh hard, just like you’d do, for all the days to come. RIP @nicolecoopy.’
Mother-of-one Nicole (pictured) was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in March 2017, soon after giving birth to her son Joshua, and died in Melbourne on Tuesday. She was open about her battle with cancer, and inspired thousands of people suffering from the disease
Bec also shared a video of the snow-filled mountains of Whistler, where she is on a skiing trip with her husband, Chris Judd, and their four children.
‘Waking up to this view and thinking of my beautiful friend Nicole Cooper who desperately wanted to be on this Whistler trip looking at this very same outlet everyday,’ she wrote.
‘RIP, Nic. I love you forever’.
Bec, 39, who is on holiday in Whistler, Canada, with her family, said on Wednesday she was ‘so privileged to have shared ‘so many great times’ with her friend
In the hours before her death, Nicole penned a gut-wrenching final message that was later posted on her Instagram by her family.
Alongside a picture from her hospital bed with her son Josh and husband Tim, she wrote: ‘When it comes to wrapping up, cancer is not the thing I want to sign out on.’
She added that the ‘stuff that matters’ is ‘what we’ve build together’.
‘The shared respect, joy, compelling and insightful commitment, and unwavering authenticity to the real nuts and bolts of being alive,’ she added.
In the hours before her death, Nicole penned a gut-wrenching final message that was later posted on her Instagram by her family. The post included this photo from her hospital bed of Nicole with her husband and son
‘It’s the fragility of this, the incomparable everythingness, the preparedness to take every risk for this group, to truly declare that living in my most scared and vulnerable and weak and wonderful was worth it all.
‘Because I got to do it with all of you. That is the purpose of things. That is what I wrap up from.
‘And that is what I know you all are just beginning to champion for us, for every day, for evermore,’ she said.
The Melbourne-based mum had publicly documented her cancer journey on Instagram and had her own podcast, The Impatient Podcast.
She committed much of her blog to raising awareness around the illness.
‘I am a young, healthy, active female. I love kale. I love the gym. Don’t assume that you are not in the risk zone,’ she wrote on her blog in 2017.
‘Anyone can get bowel cancer. You are never too young, old, fit, healthy or invincible.’
She added that she ‘hadn’t thought much about her symptoms’ because of her work schedule and tiredness from looking after her son.
Her final post was emotionally charged and full of love for her family, who are pictured here in her final days
‘I had lost weight quickly – but I was breastfeeding at the time and was told by many people that I looked fabulous and was so lucky,’ she explained.
‘I was also especially tired – pretty understandably as a new mum.’
On January 4 she posted a photo of her ‘oxygen friend’ – a tank – and reflected on a week of ICU craziness and terror-inducing moments.
Bec said heaven had ‘gained a queen’ as she shared snaps of the friends together
‘But one of the benefits of a week of total disorientation is the option to then mindfully take a step in any direction and essentially be moving toward some version of forward,’ she said.
That determination to get better prompted her followers to praise her for resilience and optimism.
But unfortunately things were to get worse and six days later she was writing her final post, and spending time with her family, who crowded into her room to say goodbye.
Her death left her community devastated.
Bec shared pictures of the group of friend in happier times
