Amy Dowden has taken to social media to pay tribute to her friend Nicky Newman who has sadly died aged 35.
The influencer and campaigner – known to many online as knicknacklou - had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, which later spread to her bones, five and a half years ago.
© InstagramAmy, who has been very candid about her own cancer battle, was amongst the first to pay tribute to Nicky in a touching post.
Over on Instagram, the Caerphilly-born dancer re-shared a poignant photo of Nicky alongside the words: "The most beautiful ray of sunshine who has done so much and created a community and legacy that will live on.
© Getty"I hope you know all the help and awareness you have done and will always continue to do so. I remember when I found out I needed a port, [it was] your page I turned too! I will forever hold onto your lovely voice notes and will always think of you when I say Welsh Love."
She went on to say: "Thank you for being utterly incredible and a TRUE INSPIRATION. I promise to grab life and deeply miss your radiance and positivity [heartbroken emoji and pink sparkly emoji] X Love to Mr G, your family, friends and the huge community you created online."
In a deeply moving post, Nicky's husband shared a pre-written message from Nicky on their joint account. It read: "If you're reading this it means I have died, I made it 5 & half years though, not bad for a stage 4 breastie ey.
"And none of this 'She fought her battle nonsense', I didn't lose anything, the cancer eventually took over & that's okay, we all knew this would happen."
Amy has been very transparent about her own cancer battle after going public with her breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
© InstagramMost recently, the 33-year-old has shared a candid glimpse inside her ongoing cancer treatment which has so far seen the dancer undergo four rounds of chemotherapy.
Earlier this month, Amy spoke about her heartbreaking hair loss which has reduced her to tears multiple times. In a candid update, she explained: "I'm not going to lie… It's really, really hard and I think I cry… less now. To begin with, [it was] like every day. But now, I have meltdowns when I wash my hair once a week."
© GettyThe Welsh dancer also revealed that her husband Ben Jones has been incredibly supportive and hands-on with hair brushing. "Ben brushes it for me – he gets rid of the hair that's come out, so I'm not aware of it anymore," she said.
"For the last two weeks now, I haven't brushed my hair and that has definitely helped. Since I came out of hospital with the blood clots, I stopped brushing it myself because I was just getting distraught seeing how much was falling out."
Amy exclusively told HELLO! magazine about her diagnosis back in May. In a frank interview, she opened up about how she discovered a lump on her breast, just days before she went on her honeymoon with her husband Ben.
