A YOUNG York woman whose father and brother passed away because of Huntington’s disease has now also lost her battle against the same horrific genetic illness.

Westlife fan Beth ‘Moth’ Walters, 26, of Chapelfields, passed away just months before she had been set to see her favourite band play at Scarborough’s open air theatre this summer.

Her mother Claire, who appealed in The Press earlier this month for help in getting Bethany to the concert, revealed today that the charity The Ambulance Wish Foundation had subsequently managed to get them two tickets, and Bethany had been "really excited about it".

But then her condition had deteriorated and the former Westfield Primary and York High School pupil had passed away after being taken in to York Hospital.

“Now me and her brother Bradley are allowed to go in her memory, which is fab, as I’m sure she will be with us in spirit,” she said.

She said that because of Covid rules, no one would be able to sing hymns at Bethany’s funeral but three of her favourite Westlife songs could be played - ‘Queen of my heart’ as she was brought in, ‘You raise me up’ during the service and ‘Flying without wings’ at the end, prior to her burial at Fulford Cemetery.

She said the rules also meant only 30 mourners were allowed inside the church, St Stephen’s in Acomb, when the service is held at 11am on Tuesday, June 8, and these places would be restricted to family members.

However, others who would have liked to attend the service, such as friends, would be able to stand instead in the churchyard and watch it on a screen, or at least hear it on speakers.

Claire paid tribute to her daughter, who she said had had a normal healthy childhood before she started to fall ill in her teens.

She said Bethany had been a fighter against the illness, "as hard as nails", and had been determined to enjoy life for as long as she could.

“She was a typical teenager,” she said.

She added that Bethany was known as ‘Moth’ by everyone in the family because her nephew had said she used to flutter around everywhere and she got the nickname which then stuck.

She was diagnosed when she was 16 years old with juvenile Huntington’s disease, a debilitating genetic disease that is terminal and has no cure.

It caused her to lose her ability to talk and walk, trapping her inside a body that caused her pain and spasms every minute of the day and led to her having to be fed via a tube that went directly into her stomach and bowel.

Her father, Gavin, lost his battle to the adult form of the “hideous” disease and her little brother Leo lost his fight at just 11 years old in 2018.

Her cousin Debbie said earlier this month: “What Bethany has gone through in 26 years, nobody should have to go through in a lifetime.”

An NHS spokesperson said Huntington’s disease was a condition that stopped parts of the brain working properly over time, and was passed on from a person’s parents. Symptoms could include difficulty concentrating and memory lapses, stumbling and clumsiness, involuntary jerking or fidgety movements.