AN “extremely funny and popular” York woman who battled back from an horrific railway accident has died of throat cancer aged 49.

The family of Jennifer Mary Dean spoke about her bravery in battling cancer and for getting her life back together after losing her leg after she fell under a train 17 years ago.

Jennifer slipped between the platform and a carriage at Paddington Station in London as she ran alongside the train waving to her boyfriend.

Doctors later had to amputate her leg.

She faced more tragedy when she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year.

Her sister, Sarah Hill, said Jennifer had a “wicked sense of humour” and loved to make people smile – even during the last year when she underwent gruelling treatment.

“Oesophageal cancer is a cruel cancer,” Sarah said. “But Jennifer never complained during any of her treatment. Her doctors and the nurses at the hospital loved her. She never let her illness or anything that had happened in her life get her down.”

A devout Catholic, Jennifer studied at the Bar Convent, later studying history at Birmingham University, before moving to London.

It was during her years in the capital when Jennifer tragically made the headlines in June 1995, at the age of 32, when she lost a leg after she fell under a train.

Her mother, Annette Dean, said after the accident Jennifer moved back home. “She stayed with us for about four years as she got her life back together, said Annette, of Knapton. “But she was fiercely independent and went on to get her own bungalow in York.”

Sarah said Jennifer was a familiar face around the city who lived for her job working as a case manager for English Heritage.

Jennifer died in York Hospital on August 27, a year after being diagnosed with cancer. She leaves her mother, sister, brother Greg, niece Hannah, and nephews Danny and Oliver.

Annette said the collection at a packed funeral service at English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church last Thursday raised about £700 for Oesophageal Cancer Research.