A MOURNING mother felt a mixture of great pride and sadness after learning her daughter had died just days before qualifying as a nurse.

Nicola Devaliant, 27, had a rare heart condition, but was “full of life” and managed to train as a nurse.

Her mum Lynda Cunningham, 59, of Eastwoodbury Lane, Southend, said: “Nicola had to work so hard and did so well. Because she was so ill, she missed a lot of school and didn’t gain the qualifications she would need.

“She went on an access to health course and worked really hard. It was made even harder when she was diagnosed with ME last year, which was very painful and she struggled with memory loss and fatigue.

“I’m just so sad Nicola never knew she had passed and been registered as a nurse, after training at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford.

“She always had the aptitude for nursing and was so caring. She wanted to specialise in cardiac care or work in a children’s hospice.”

Nicola was born with a rare heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which disrupts the organ’s normal rhythm.

The condition meant she would get palpitations, and occasionally blackout.

Nicola fell ill in the early hours of January 26 and was rushed to Southend Hospital, where she spent several days on life support before dying on January 30.

Mrs Cunningham added: “Nicola was always tiny for her age, but so full of life.

“Dancing was her passion. She did ballet from the age of three and was in shows at the Cliffs Pavilion. All the while the doctors were monitoring her, and it didn’t appear to be life-threatening. She went to college to do performing arts and didn’t let it stop her. She loved gigs and socialising.

“This happened so suddenly. We were chatting, she said goodnight, went to bed and never woke up.”

Nicola lived with her boyfriend Simon Budd, also 27, in a cabin in the garden of her mum and stepdad’s home.

The couple met at Kents Hill School, in Benfleet, and went to King John School, in Thundersley.

They planned to get engaged in April on a dream trip to Disney World, Florida, with Nicola’s dad Peter, 54, his partner and their two young children, Elizabeth and Sarah.

Mrs Cunningham added: “All she ever wanted was to be a nurse, Simon’s wife and a mother. They made a superb couple and he was amazing with her.

“Nicola was raucous, a comedian and so dedicated to her studies. She had a lot of empathy and would have made a fantastic nurse. She wanted to give back the care she had been given.”

Nicola, who lived in Benfleet until 2006, also leaves brother Matt, 26, her older sister Lisa, 39, and Lisa’s children Ross, 18, and Lucy, 14, plus her step sister Debbie, 25.

Her funeral was held on Wednesday at Southend Crematorium. Her family and friends wore pink in her memory. They are raising money for a memorial bench at Southend Hospital and for Little Havens Children’s Hospice, where Nicola did some of her nursing placement.