A 37-year-old Dundee mum has lost her battle with cancer.
Pamela Barbour, a dinner lady at Longhaugh Primary School, died on Monday at Roxburghe House, surrounded by her loving family.
She had battled stomach cancer for nearly two years.
When Pamela’s condition deteriorated, a holiday to Greece with her partner had to be cancelled.
Tragically, Ari Khalil had planned to ask his beloved partner of 10 years to marry him while they holidayed.
But Pamela had to be admitted into Ninewells Hospital’s cancer unit.
Even until the very end, the selfless and loving mother-of-three from Whitfield always put her loved ones before herself.
Working at the school up until four months ago, Pamela also looked after her three kids — Tommy, 17, Jodie, 16, and seven-year-old Katie-B.
Knowing time was running out to spend time with her family she booked a holiday to Spain over the October holidays but that had to be cancelled too.
Ari, 28, said: “We were going to go on holiday and I was going to ask her to marry me, but she was too unwell to go. For 10 years I have had such an amazing time with her — she was so strong.”
Tommy paid tribute to his mum. He said: “She had such a big heart and would always put us first.
“Everyone always said hello to her when she walked passed – everybody knew her.”
Her dad, John Barbour, spoke of his “caring” daughter.
“She had a heart of gold and would do anything and everything for anybody who needed help.
“Pamela was always such a loving, caring person and even when she was diagnosed with stomach cancer, she still put everyone before herself.
“She was diagnosed a year and nine months ago. The doctors only gave her four months to live.
“Before that she was getting slight pains in her stomach but it was passed off as heartburn or a sore stomach.
“But it was because stomach cancer in such a young woman is so uncommon – usually people over 50 are diagnosed with that kind of illness.
“It came as a real surprise to the doctors and completely shocked the whole family.
“But she didn’t let it faze her in the slightest and got on with it.
“She kept working until she just couldn’t anymore and was always making sure everyone had everything they needed.
“She died very peacefully with her family around her and still, she was making sure everyone else was alright.
“The care she received throughout her treatment was brilliant.”
Pamela was always the “heart and soul” of any party.
Her mother Catherine, 58, said: “Pamela would always have a smile on her face — she was the light of any party and could talk to anybody.
“She was such a friendly person and was only happy if everyone else was happy.
“There were a lot of tributes on Facebook and she will be missed by a lot of people.
“That tells you so much about how she was as a daughter, mother and friend.
“She was a brilliant person.”