Mishka Amara Taft - The Last Wish Of A Devoted Mother

Hi, my name is Jack Taft, my wife Mishka Amara Taft (aka Amara), sadly passed away peacefully in my arms on Thursday 21st November following a long 30 month battle with cancerous brain tumours. Which she was diagnosed with in May 2022. She was given up to 12 months "at best". At the time we had two children who were 4 and 3 years old. Chloe and Nina are now 6 and 5 years and are thriving. Her love for our family drove her far beyond. She fought like hell.

If you would like to know more about our story these past 30 months, I'd encourage you to look my facebook profile up (Jack Taft, Bromsgrove: https://www.facebook.com/jack.taft.1293/ ) or indeed the initial fundraising page we set up: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/mishka-amara-taft-unknown-brain-masses-fundraiser which led to lots of support during those early difficult months from the local community as well as nationwide.

With those extra years, has meant abundantly more memories, which was always hers and our goal.

I now have one last dying wish to fulfil of Amara's. She wants a place our daughters can visit locally in Bromsgrove, to help process their grief for their later years, to know where their mommy rests.

Whilst we did very little funeral planning, she was very clear on one detail - she did not want a cremation. She wanted a Burial Funeral.

The only issue is this comes at nearly twice the cost of a cremation. As hope was what we lived on, we never once approached funeral planning to understand costs ahead of time, it was too upsetting for her, and for me to ask her. It has come as a shock to me to say the least how much it costs in the UK to bury someone, a process I'd been lucky enough never to have to go through before.

Its also an added grievance that before she got cancer, I had actually looked in to Life Insurance for Amara that would cover this, however we were rejected left, right and centre - due to her Bipolar Disorder Type 1. Specialist insurers demanded monthly premiums of £175 - this was back in 2019, which was unaffordable due to raising a 1 year old Chloe at the time.

Much of the PIP payments and increased Universal Credit entitlement went in to funding an adjunctive protocol of off label medications and natural supplements that not only dramatically slowed her cancer down, but it also reduced her symptoms and maintained quality of life. However, now that she has finally passed, I'm without a safety net of savings to fall back on, as her health was number 1 priority right up till the day of her death.

Whilst I am wrapped up in shame that I have to put up a page like this, I couldn't not keep trying to support her health and throw away any hope we may have had to beat the disease. Hope has what has gotten us through this, it was all we had to live on and her goal throughout was to live as long as possible for our girls to remember her. Which they will.

The burial plot itself is circa £2700. The all-in quote has come in at approx £6500 from Giles. To get the cost right down, I'm going to do away with limousines and celebrants as it is not appropriate nor necessary for our situation, there will however be a wake at a venue at a heavily reduced cost, with tea/coffee and a simple cold buffet spread to eat, no free bars or anything like that, we also have chosen the most basic coffin option (again, Amara joked we could chuck her in an Amazon cardboard box if we wanted) but to be fair its a lot nicer than that, a lovely mahogany colour that matches her gorgeous dark brown eyes. I currently have £2000 towards it, but it's touch and go whether I'll be able to scratch together the rest in time.

I'm hoping if one final Gofundme can bridge some of this gap and help give her the beautiful send off and resting place the love of my life deserves and what an incredible mother and fighter, she is, was and always will be.

Any donation, no matter how small whether a few pounds or more. I will be so grateful for and will thank each and every donation personally. If by some miracle we do meet the target, any surplus funds that go beyond will be put towards a headstone which I've not included within the costs but don't feel I can't justify asking just yet. The main priority is the burial plot and fulfilling her wish, so we can finally all find peace as a family.

From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.