Community remembers Tilehurst mother of three who died after stomach cancer battle

A young mother of three has died after a terminal cancer battle — but those closest to her have found a unique way to remember her.

Shona-Louise Johnson, from Tilehurst, was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal stomach cancer in June 2022. After a prolonged struggle, she died in July 2023, aged 34 — leaving behind three young children and a new husband.

But Mrs Johnson’s family and friends have devised a unique way to remember her and raise awareness for stomach and gastric cancer — even earning a nomination for Family of the Year Award by Pride of Reading.

Mrs Johnson first began experiencing IBS-type symptoms in 2021. Her symptoms grew worse and she was rushed to hospital after collapsing one day.

Despite having cancer on both sides of her family, her symptoms were initially missed, her friends said.

Mrs Johnson and her supporters — calling themselves ‘Shona’s Angels’ — set up a Gofundme page to raise money for her and her family to travel and make memories together before she grew too weak.

The funds then went towards covering Mrs Johnson’s funeral costs and supporting her loved ones during their difficult time.

“Shona is really adored by so many people in the local community and beyond,” said Monya Santos, a close friend of the family. “She was a light and a pillar to everyone, to her family and to her friends.

“Her strength and her determination when she found out she had terminal cancer; she knew the first thing she wanted to do was to be present and spend time creating memories with her family.”

While staying in hospital, Mrs Johnson met someone who told her about a kindness rock workshop, which gave her the idea to set up Shona’s Stones — which now boasts a Facebook following of almost 2,000 and counting.

The stones are decorated and distributed to a variety of public places for people to find.

People then photograph and take the stones with them on their travels, leaving them at another location for the next person to find — raising awareness for stomach and gastric cancer wherever they go.

So far, stones have been placed all over the world from Colchester Zoo to Australia and Machu Picchu.

There is a tree planted in Mrs Johnson’s memory at Prospect Park in Reading, where people can find a basket full of stones.

“It’s become like a hobby now with people constantly painting stones and dropping them in the basket, and then children find them and get really excited, because there’s some amazing artists out there,” added Mrs Santos.

She said Mrs Johnson’s family and friends extend their heartflet thanks to companies who have been supporting Shona’s Stones, including Hobbycraft in Newbury and Reading — which has donated paints and brushes — and Travis Perkins in Reading, which donated a ton of stones to the project.

Please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/shonas-cancer-journey to donate Mrs Johnson’s fundraiser.

And visit https://shorturl.at/otCHK to sign her petition seeking a change in law to improve diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients.

Anyone interested in painting a kindness stone is welcome to attend the free workshop run by Debor Baldree — who helped set up Shona Stone’s — at IKEA Reading on Mondays from 3.30pm to 7pm and Wednesdays from 5pm to 7pm.