Family's Walton beach hut inspired by daughter's cancer battle

They have created a Palm Beach style haven, resplendent in pink and green, with a nod to the iconic The Beverly Hills Hotel, and bejewelled with silk hydrangeas.

It is a fitting tribute to their beautiful daughter Gemma, who loved being by the sea in a beach hut and spent some of her last days in Walton before she sadly passed away from cervical cancer on October 21 2021 at the age of 30.

“We based the refurb on two of her favourite places, The Beverly Hills Hotel in LA and Palm Beach where she was fortunate enough to spend time being based in the USA for her job as florist and head of housekeeping on a superyacht and also where I was lucky enough to spend time with her on some of our many mother and daughter adventures.”

The Floating Florista

From next March 2023 they will be gifting beach hut days to ‘cancer warriors’ in need of respite to help take their mind away from hospital appointments, treatments and their daily home environment.

“Gemma loved being near to the ocean, it was a huge part of her life having a career that she was so passionate about working on superyachts but even when on leave she would love to be near to water or the ocean,” said Jayn.

The Floating Florista

“Spending days at the beach huts last year when she wasn’t 100 per cent mobile helped her to relax and not think about her next hospital appointment or treatment.

"With a picnic, magazines, a book and some drawing materials she was in her element, even just sitting and watching the world go by breathing in the fresh salty ocean air."

The family worked with The Beach Hut Group for the incredible transformation after purchasing the beach in March this year.

Beautiful artwork by Gemma

“We had been searching for a beach hut and then one came up in the perfect position in Southcliff in Walton with such lovely views,” says Jayn.

“We want it to be a place for cancer warriors to come and spend a beautiful day and I am looking into have afternoon teas delivered to people on the day of their visit.”

Gemma was diagnosed with cervical cancer while based in Florida in February 2020 after her second routine smear test came back abnormal in October 2019 at the age of 28.

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Jayn says: “She had no symptoms at all, she was very fit and led a healthy lifestyle. She had a very physical job which she loved, had a passion for yoga which she practised daily, Pilates and loved to walk and hike.”

Due to the pandemic travel bans Jayn was not being able to travel over to the States to be with Gemma through her first surgeries and treatments.

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They decided she should come home to the UK, by May when back home they were told the cancer had spread through her lymph nodes and had developed into Stage 4 incurable but treatable cancer.

Gemma sailed through the chemo but once the daily radiotherapy started along with one infusion of chemo a week it completely floored her.

By January 2021 after a routine scan they were told the good news that, although she would always have the cancer, it had “gone to sleep” so she didn’t need any more treatments and would be seen every three months for routine blood tests and scans.

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Sadly, at her first three month scan in April 2021 lesions had appeared on her liver. Gemma started a second round of chemotherapy but within months the cancer spread all over her liver, into her back and eventually to her brain.

“The only treatment option left for Gemma was immunotherapy that isn’t available on the NHS for Cervical Cancer but is available privately at an extortionate cost,” says Jayn.

Go Fund Me pages were quickly set up for Gemma by friends and work colleagues but unfortunately by the time the money was raised Gemma and her family were told she was too sick at that time to be given the treatment.

The Floating Florista

Gemma was nominated for the ACREW Superyacht Crew Awards “Senior Crew Award” last year and went on to win the prestigious award.

She couldn’t attend the ceremony in Barcelona so recorded a thank you video from her hospital bed and was represented on by one of her best friends, chief stewardess Gemma Hulbert.

Gemma sadly didn’t get to hold her award as she had passed away 10 minutes before her friend Gemma arrived at the hospital in London to give it to her after travelling up by train from Lymington a couple of weeks after the ceremony.

Jayn has set The Floating Florista Foundation in Gemma's memory.

The Floating Florista Beach Hut will also be available for general hire on a daily or weekend basis. All proceeds from beach hut hires will support the foundation.

See on Instagram at @50funkyandfabulouswhich, @floatingflorista and via email at floatingflorista@gmail.com.