Fifteen-year-old Katie Taylor lost her two-year battle against malignant melanoma –– an aggressive form of skin cancer –– on 17th June, surrounded by her parents Alison and Wayne and brother Christopher (16).

She died just days before a fundraising walk was held in her honour, which still went ahead and raised £8,500 for the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund –– a charity that increases awareness of the disease and one day hopes to find a cure.

And now store owner Dorothy Howers –– who runs the Pinxton Natural Therapy Centre –– has revealed how she was so moved by Katie's plight that she has vowed to donate 20 per cent of her takings until Christmas to the teenager's family for the charity.

"When I first saw the report in the Chad it really touched me and since then I've met Katie's family as well," she said. "Malignant melanoma is also very close to my heart as my husband had an encounter with it some time back –– fortunately he was one of the lucky few.

"They are a lovely family and I just want to do something special for them."

The disease left Katie mainly confined to bed with no sensation of feeling below her neck –– while it also affected her lungs, pelvis and spine, leading to her spine collapsing.

Katie's devastated mother Alison told Chad she welcomed Dorothy's generosity and revealed she and her family will be kick-starting a money-raising drive soon.

"We will carry on raising money and awareness for malignant melanoma and we are going to be looking at doing a major campaign soon," she said. "We are just devastated, we knew that this would happen, but you're never really prepared for it."

LINK:Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund