A woman who was left severely disabled after an operation to remove a brain tumour as a teenager has died after suffering a relapse.

Maria Kucharski slipped into a coma after the operation in 2001, and when she woke she had forgotten everything including how to speak and feed herself. Her mother

Jackie today paid tribute to her “lovely, bubbly” daughter, who died aged 23 on Saturday.

It was almost a month to the day since an MRI scan revealed the cancer had returned. “She was a wonderful girl who brightened so many people’s lives over the years,” said Mrs Kucharski, aged 53, of Argil Close, Wednesfield.

“She loved all kinds of music, from Abba to Backstreet Boys to Pavarotti and spent half her life singing.

“She never thought of herself as disabled – if she saw someone else in a wheelchair she would open the door for them.”

For 11 years, Maria – who had wanted to be a meteorologist before being struck down when she was 12 – underwent physiotherapy and had regained her speech, but was wheelchair-bound.

The funeral will be held at St Thomas’s Church in Wednesfield on Tuesday at 1.30pm, followed by a burial at Danescourt Cemetery in Tettenhall and a gathering at the Corpus Christi Social Centre in Griffiths Drive from 3.30pm. Family flowers are preferred. A donation box will be available.

“All the women there are being asked to wear colourful nail varnish – Maria always had her nails different colours,” added Mrs Kucharski.