Kate Winslet was among the mourners paying tribute to young mum Gemma Nuttall, who lost her battle with cancer earlier this month.
The 29-year-old tragically passed away on 14 October, having fought a fierce five-year battle against the disease after delaying treatment to protect the life of her unborn baby.
Kate had heard about her plight as she attempted to fundraise for specialist treatment, and helped the young mum raise money for therapy in Germany.
Gemma died at Pendleside Hospice and was laid to rest at Accrington Cemetery with a horse-drawn carriage transporting her coffin. Mourners were led into the chapel to Beyonces Halo.
Gemma had first learned of her cancer during a 16-week scan of her pregnancy and decided against having a termination, which meant delaying treatment.
After giving birth to Penelope, doctors were able to remove the tumour and she made a good recovery following some tough rounds of chemotherapy.
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However, the cancer returned a year later and her prognosis was not good. She and her mum Helen heard of Hallwang Clinic in Germany which offered immunotherapy, but with six sessions needed and each one costing £70,000, they were only able to afford one round.
Thats when Kate Winslet stepped in and helped raise $1.35million (£955,000) by roping in pal Leonardo DiCaprio and auctioning themselves off as a date with Jack and Rose having come across her Go Fund Me page. With the extra funds, Gemmas life was prolongued for another four years.
The actress told The Lancashire Telegraph: It is a privilege to be able to give Gemma the send-off she deserves at the end of her incredible fight.
As a young mum Gemmas extraordinary determination to beat her cancer for Penelope was something that deeply moved me and made me want to help.
She was so clearly a fighter. She fought her battle and against all odds she kept proving them wrong.
The fundraising had been a phenomenal success and Helens initial efforts to send Gemma to Germany for immunotherapy treatment hadnt been in vain. For a while it worked.
The 42-year-old added: But even though that has not been the case and even though Gemma didnt quite make it to 30, she did make it to Penelopes first second, third and fourth birthdays and to her first day of big school.
They were also able to have some magical memories together which doctors thought would be impossible.
Kate and Gemma were introduced on This Morning when Phil and Holly surprised the 29-year-old with a call from the Hollywood star.
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I lost my own mother last year in May to ovarian cancer and we as a family were given a very poor prognosis for my mum, Kate said. After a four year battle… we decided to look elsewhere and we also stumbled across those places in Germany.
Simultaneously I came across [Gemmas] petition campaigning to have immunotherapy made available on the NHS and my heart sunk as at that point.
I thought “this poor young woman is probably years away from her being able to access that kind of treatment on the national health service”.
She continued: I found her Go Fund Me page and I saw how much she needed to raise and at that point there was only £9,000 in the fund and I just thought “I cannot have this happen”.
My own mother was very, very, very unwell and I just though my mum would be very grateful if I could do this for someone else, another young mum.
We got close to £200,000 and I thought, “right its time to call my friend Leo”.
I phoned Leo and I said “do you think that we could do a charity dinner or something” and he said “lets go one better, come with me to Saint Tropez to my benefit fundraiser and we will auction off a dinner with Jack and Rose”.
Gemmas mum Helen Sproates revealed shed sadly passed away on Facebook, paying tribute to her angel.
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