By Claire Elliot

 
A BRAVE young Scots woman has lost her third battle against a rare bone cancer - but her parents have vowed to keep raising awareness of the disease to help other families.

 Samantha Johnstone, who had beaten Ewing’s sarcoma twice before, died in hospital four days after her 22nd birthday.

 She had also previously fought off superbug MRSA and was receiving treatment for a blood clot in her head.

But, despite being told that the cancer, which first took hold in her ribs, had spread to her skull, shoulder, lower back and both legs, Miss Johnstone, of Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire, continued to help raise funds for cancer charities.

Her courageous spirit touched the hearts of everyone who knew her.
 

And today, as they revealed that more than £3,000 was raised at her funeral last month, her parents, Jackie and Stevie, vowed to continue their daughter’s legacy by raising awareness of the disease and funds for research into the causes and treatment.

Mrs Johnstone, 45, said: “I think it’s what Sam would have wanted. It’s too late for her now but I’d like to think we would be able to do something for other families in our position.
 

“We’re just ordinary folk and it can happen to anyone.
 

“It is very important for us as a family to do something for the future. Even if we can help just a little bit.
 

“It’s about raising awareness because the survival rates for bone cancer have not improved in the last 20 years as it’s not so well known,” she added.
 

Miss Johnstone was just 16 when she was first diagnosed with the disease.

 She thought she had beaten it after almost three cancer-free years from April 2005 to February last year.
 

A scan following a fall down stairs last February, however, revealed the disease had returned for a second time.
 

And in December - after 20 cycles of chemotherapy, 11 weeks of radiotherapy and several blood transfusions since 2004 - Miss Johnstone, faced her third battle with the disease.

 She lost her fight for life in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary last month.
 

Paying tribute to her “courageous” daughter, Mrs Johnstone, said: “She was just amazing. She never said: ’why me?’.
 

“She always had the next night out or lunch planned.
 

“She was just so positive and that really helped us.
 

“We are very proud of her.
 

“It was an incredible amount of money raised [at her funeral] and that just shows how much folk thought of her. Her situation has touched so many peoples’ hearts.”

The 22-year was buried in a coffin of her favourite colour pink, following a service at Torphins Parish Church, which saw mourners turn out in their hundreds.
 

At the service photographs from throughout her life were projected onto a screen. Her pink coffin was then carried from the church to the sound of Westlife’s hit Flying Without Wings. Miss Johnstone had met the band last year after it was arranged by the charity Dreams Come True.
 

As her coffin was transported to Lumphanan cemetery, her parents, brother Steven, 20, sister Karen, 13, and a few other family and friends, followed in a pink limousine.
 

The money raised at her funeral will go to several charities including the Bone Cancer Research Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support, and the Anchor Unit Teenage Service Fund at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
 

Her parents’ next planned fundraising event will be in June to coincide with Bone Cancer Awareness Week.