A FORMER racing apprentice has died of a rare form of cancer - just two days before she was due to get married.

Laura Barry died aged 25 last Thursday. She had been suffering from a rare and aggressive nerve cancer which had left her with paralysis in her leg.

Malton racing horse trainer Richard Fahey paid tribute to Laura, who was one of his former apprentices.

He said: “She was a really popular girl, a really kind girl.

“She was hard working and just a star really. Nobody had a bad word to say about her. She will be truly missed.”

Tributes were also paid by people across the world of racing.

A spokesman for the Injured Jockeys’ Fund (IJF), which owns and runs Jack Berry House in Old Malton, said: “Everyone at the IJF is devastated to hear about the death of Laura Barry.

“She fought her cancer battle with such fortitude and it is simply so terribly sad.”

Laura moved from Limerick in Ireland to Malton in 2010, to pursue a career in the saddle. Later she moved to Northallerton.

She had been due to marry her fiancé Ben Hamilton on Saturday last week.

Her riding career highlights include representing Ireland in the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak World Apprentice Series in San Francisco, and winning the Prolinx Ladies Silver Championship for the highest strike rate in a season.

But she started suffering from pain in her left leg in 2016, and was diagnosed with a form of cancer that attacks the nerve ducts of the spine and nervous system.

Although the tumour was treated, a second tumour was discovered in November 2016. Following surgery, Laura was left with paralysis in her left leg. She was treated in Wellington Hospital in London, and in January 2017 a fundraising campaign smashed its £30,000 target in just six days.