HUNDREDS of mourners bid an emotional farewell to a mum-of-two whose fight against leukaemia inspired 3,000 potential bone marrow donors to come forward.

Around 500 people filled St Michael and All Angels Church, in Foulridge, for the funeral of Julie Patefield, 38, yesterday morning.

Speaking publicly for the first time following Julie’s death, her husband, Andrew, paid tribute to his “loving wife”.

Her heartbroken father Trevor Howorth described it as the “saddest” day of his life, but urged people to celebrate his daughter’s life.

The service ended with Leona Lewis’s powerful ballad Footprints in the Sand as the coffin was carried from the church.

Mourners then made the short trip to Colne cemetery, where they watched as white doves were freed.

Julie, of Colne, had been recovering from a bone marrow transplant when she contracted a virus and died in Manchester Royal Infir-mary last week.

In church, her brother Mark bid “good night” to his sister before reading a psalm.

Following a hymn, led by children from Laneshaw Bridge Primary School, Julie’s father Trevor add-ressed the service.

He said: “Julie was the light of our lives. Her glass was always half-full and never half-empty. All she ever wanted was to be a good mum and she was certainly that.”

Trevor recalled Julie bringing Andrew home for the first time, and told tales of her working as a nanny in Canada.

After another hymn, Andrew thanked people, including his firefighter colleagues, for attending, and showing their support.

He then read a poem dedicated to his “loving wife” and mother of their two children, Jemima, seven, and Annabelle, three.

Julie was diagnosed with a virulent form of leukaemia in September last year, prompting family and friends to launch the ‘Help Julie’ campaign. Campaigners org-anised clinics across East Lancashire where potential donors – sometimes as many as 400 – had blood tests.

Andrew, a firefighter in Burnley, helped organise 10 clinics at fire stations across East Lancashire.

Fire officers also took part in a fire engine pull outside Blackburn Town Hall as part of the campaign Many of Andrew’s colleagues from Burnley, Nelson, and other fire stations, were present at the funeral.

And fire engines made up a large section of the cortege in Skipton Road outside the church.

A positive match was eventually discovered for Julie in America by charity the Anthony Nolan Trust.