'Still saving lives' - Breast cancer campaigner Kris Hallenga's twin on her legacy

“It astir looked similar she was walking connected clouds that day,” says Maren Sheldon, duplicate sister of the precocious bosom crab campaigner, Kris Hallenga.

Maren is remembering the “living FUNeral” her sister had organised past twelvemonth successful Truro Cathedral successful Cornwall.

For the occasion, Kris wore a sequinned apical with “YODO” connected the backmost - You Only Die Once - and earrings successful the signifier of the poo emoji - a motion to her published handbook for surviving entitled “Glittering a Turd”.

Guests were dressed successful sparkly sequins, a 20-piece orchestra raised the extortion and Dawn French - arsenic the Vicar of Dibley - gave a sermon astatine the lectern.

You could constitute your beauteous thoughts astir Kris connected a cardboard coffin and assistance yourself to a artifact feline to cuddle - conscionable arsenic Kris relied connected her ain cat, Lady Marmalade, for comfort.

After the speeches, determination was a disco, partying and tequila shots.

“It was amazing, it was the champion time of her life, arsenic she said,” recalls Maren.

“I deliberation a batch of radical accidental their weddings are the champion days of their life, oregon the time that their children are born. She didn't person either of those occasions successful her life, truthful I conjecture her ‘FUNeral’ was for her that day.”

“She was truthful blessed and truthful good astatine that time, too. I'm truthful gladsome she chose to bash it then, earlier she got unwell.”

Scenes from the juncture diagnostic successful the caller BBC2 documentary: Living Every Second: The Kris Hallenga Story - which is broadcast connected 1 October.

Kris died successful May this twelvemonth astatine the property of 38. She had been diagnosed with terminal bosom crab 15 years agone and went connected to recovered the bosom crab consciousness foundation CoppaFeel with Maren.

The foundation encouraged young radical to cheque their breasts and campaigned to get crab consciousness onto the schoolhouse curriculum.

At the property of 22, Kris had gone to the GP with what she described arsenic a “lumpy boob”, but was told it was thing to interest astir and apt to beryllium hormonal. When she was yet diagnosed, a twelvemonth later, the crab had already dispersed to her spine. She besides aboriginal developed encephalon tumours.

Her precocious diagnosis made Kris determined to forestall the aforesaid happening happening to anyone else. CoppaFeel was her top accomplishment and her connection continues to prevention lives daily, Maren says.

In 2013, Kris made a movie for BBC Three and, implicit the pursuing decade, continued to let the cameras into her life.

The caller BBC Two movie tells her communicative - from her aboriginal years to her last days - surrounded by Maren, Lady Marmalade and her friends.

“She wouldn't privation america to look backmost and deliberation however tragic it each is, due to the fact that that's not however it was,” says Maren.

Kris was keen for decease to beryllium a speech alongside living, says her sister, but the movie - a solemnisation of Kris’s beingness - shows her “in each of her colours”, she says, and with each of the things that meant truthful overmuch to her.

“It was astir the elemental things arsenic good and it's the contentment successful her beingness that she was truthful keen for radical to understand," Maren explains.

“There was thing near unsaid and thing near undone, which I deliberation is simply a beauteous large spot to scope erstwhile you're astatine the extremity of your life.”

Kris wanted radical to absorption connected everything she had achieved successful those 38 years, says Maren. She changed the connection we usage astir crab and made it much accessible and not scary, she adds.

“She was this beacon of anticipation for truthful galore people, particularly radical with secondary diagnoses,” says Maren.

“I conjecture she was an anomaly successful that she lived for 15 years. But it's not impossible. I deliberation adjacent if you don't get 15 years, her constituent was that there's beingness successful the years that you person and to not discarded a infinitesimal connected things that don’t spark joy.”

While bosom crab consciousness has improved and nine has go much unfastened astir talking astir our bodies, says Maren, the occupation has not gone away.

“The information is that it's a treatable disease, but has to beryllium caught astatine a treatable stage.”

Maren is present navigating a caller beingness without Kris, which she says has made her realise however overmuch she depended connected her sister, and however overmuch she needed her.

She is presently successful the process of organising an accumulation successful East London astir Kris and the communicative of CoppaFeel.

Kris near it up to her to determine what would hap to her assemblage aft she died, says Maren.

“I deliberation partially the crushed I decided to spell with cremation, is, that way, I could dispersed her [ashes] successful each the places that meant rather a batch to her and to america and to different people,” she adds.

One day, aft hosting a meal with immoderate friends to honour Kris and the brave conversations she had, Maren spontaneously felt the clip was close to scatter immoderate of them.

“We were going to get successful the sea, due to the fact that that's what we ever bash - we unrecorded successful Cornwall and we conscionable emotion getting successful the oversea - and that was already portion of the plan."

She asked her friends however they felt “about taking a small changeable solid of Kris into the sea” with them, which everyone wanted to do.

Kris ever felt astatine location successful the sea, says Maren.

“It conscionable felt truly bully to person her determination with america arsenic we did that.”

Life is similar the sea, successful galore ways, sometimes it tin beryllium rough, different times, peaceful and calm. But it is Kris who summed up the quality of surviving each 2nd of it successful a code she gave to the congregation astatine her “FUNeral”.

“You spot the happening astir decease is,” said Kris, it's "so terribly final, whereas beingness - beingness is afloat of opportunities. So let’s prehend these opportunities, let’s unrecorded fully, emotion profoundly and marque contiguous count".

Living Every Second: The Kris Hallenga Story volition beryllium broadcast connected Tuesday 1 October astatine 21:00 BST connected BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

If you are affected by immoderate of the issues raised successful this story, enactment and proposal is disposable via the BBC Action Line.