A mother's last gift.... Cancer victim leaves hospice to take son to his first day of school, then dies 24 hours later

Proud mum, proud son: In a final act of defiance against the cancer which was to take her life the following day, Gemma Hogg, 31, checked out of the hospice where she had gone to die to see her son Thomas go to infant school. Here she stands with him outside the family home before they set off.

A brave mother found the strength to be at her son's first day of school before cancer claimed her life the following day.
In a final act of defiance against the disease, 31-year-old Gemma Hogg checked out of the hospice where she had gone to die to see four-year-old Thomas go to infant school.
She then returned to the hospice in Crawley, Sussex, and passed away a day later on Tuesday, September 7, surrounded by her family.

After dropping Thomas off at school, Gemma returned to the hospice and passed away a day later, surrounded by her family
Speaking about his wife of five years, Simon, 42, said: 'She was so happy as a mother. It seemed to complete her. She was never interested in material things, she just loved having her family around her.'
He added: 'She wasn't supposed to come out of the hospice but that was Gemma - she was stubborn to the end.

Mrs Hogg, a mother-of-three from Sutton, Surrey, was struck down by an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2008.

Her father Peter Carpenter added: 'She was amazing. She still made the effort to take Tom to school the day before she died. She really wanted to see him in his school uniform - that was her goal.'
She and her husband moved to Sutton in 2003, where they raised their three children, Isabelle, six, Thomas, four, and James, two.
The family, who had planned to relocate to France, received the devastating news two years ago that Mrs Hogg had a rare form of breast cancer.

Last Christmas..... Gathered under the Christmas tree Simon and Gemma embrace their three children (from left) Thomas, four, James, two, and Isabelle, six
With all their furniture abroad, the family's plans changed dramatically and they moved in with Mrs Hogg's parents in Horley, Surrey.
Mrs Hogg was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer - an aggressive form of the disease which affects just four per cent of sufferers - and underwent six months of chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
Her husband, an IT project manager, considered taking legal action against the NHS, for what he believes was a 'long summer of misdiagnosis' after a lump, initially discovered by his wife in around 2007, was dismissed as harmless breast tissue, then mastitis, and was later treated as a cyst.
It was only when Mrs Hogg paid to go private that the severity of her condition was discovered.
Mr Hogg said: 'Inflammatory breast cancer is hard to diagnose, especially after a baby has been born because the symptoms are similar to mastitis.
'With Gemma, the lump she had spread to her skin so when it was diagnosed it was at stage three.'
He added: 'She was always positive and never moaned about things and she wanted to be treated normally and make the most of what she had