People lined the street and applauded as a woman who had raised thousands of pounds for charity made her last journey from the village.

Sarah Hurrell, 51, died on November 30, after bravely battling cancer for four-and-a-half years and uplifting friends with her outlook and positivity, and inspiring five fundraising events for cancer charities, raising more than £2,600.

Sarah Linda Kent was born in Plymouth on September 21, 1966, to loving parents Lin and Sam Kent. She grew up in Plymouth before taking a job in Thurlestone Hotel as a chambermaid when she was 19.

It was there that she met Simon Hurrell, a local builder, in 1986 and her family say it was “love at first sight”. They married in February 1987 and welcomed their first child Charlotte in June that year.

Their second daughter, Katie was born in March 1989, and their son Tom in October 1992. They have four grandchildren together, Owen 11, Hendrix 4, Aurora 1, and Marley 10 months.

Sarah and Simon celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on February 21, 2017, and just five days later they welcomed their fourth grandchild into the world. Sarah was there to support Charlotte through her labour in Cornwall.

Sarah was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2013 and promptly named the tumour ‘Tarquin’ and kept friends and family up to date with posts on Facebook, most of which were overflowing with determination, grace and positivity.

After beating ‘Tarquin’, Sarah was quickly hit by the news that there were two more tumours on her liver. Always her effervescent self, Sarah named these two ‘The Cheeky Girls’ and set about her plan to “evict” them.

An operation to remove them in 2015 was successful, but sadly the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. She posted about the news saying: “YEAH the battle has begun”.

The first charity event she inspired was a tandem bike ride. Husband Simon and friend Dave Pollard rode a tandem bike from Truro to Redruth, via Falmouth, dragging a keg of beer. Charlotte’s partner Lee Smith ran alongside and they raised more than £410 for Cancer Research UK.

The next day Sarah and a group of her friends took part in the Truro Race for Life under the team name ‘Bambi’s Babes’. ‘Bambi’ was her nickname from her VW Camping Crew, who made many trips together, apparently because “she gets Bambi legs after a tipple, plus she’s cute and little”.

Always the life and soul of the party, Sarah never let her diagnosis get in the way of living her life to the full. She took regular trips with her VW Camping Crew, and she took her “favourite ever holiday” in Morocco with Simon. She always wished to return.

Between the Truro event and a second Race for Life they completed in Plymouth, she raised more than £500.

She also inspired the ‘Coastal Barrel Run’, which saw Hope and Anchor manager Chris Roberts, a friend of the family, carry a 50kg beer barrel from Hope Cove to Thurlestone and back again, raising more than £530 for POOCH - Plymouth Oncology, Outreach and Chemotherapy.

POOCH was also the beneficiary of funds raised from the ‘Wheelbarrow Challenge’, where couples pushed each other in wheelbarrows from the Village Inn in Thurlestone to the Hope and Anchor in Hope Cove. They raised more than £1,177.

Sarah’s funeral took place on December 15, with so many people turning up to pay their respects they were overflowing out of All Saints Church in Thurlestone and into the churchyard.

Her daughter Katie, who was her mother’s full time carer for the last six months, read a very moving eulogy, something that made Simon and the rest of the family “very proud”.

Sarah’s daughter Charlotte said what “a beautiful day it was at the funeral and how incredibly overwhelming it was to have 200 people line the street and clap as Mum led the way to the burial ground.

“I loved that the sun was shining so we got to walk from home down through the village with Mum one last time. Leading the way were Mum’s friends in their campers with Lee following behind the procession in Audrey [Simon and Sarah’s own VW Camper Van].

“It was just a gorgeous day for her.”

Her pallbearers were her son Tom, brothers Paul and Dave, brother-in-law Andy and son-in-laws Si and Lee.

Even her funeral raised money for charity, with more than £600 being raised for St Luke’s Hospice in Turnchapel where she was cared for in her last days.

She will be missed by all who knew her.