A NORTH YORKSHIRE woman whose desperate fight against cervical cancer took her to Mexico, has died, her distraught husband revealed today.

Kevin Axelby, 43, of Wharram-le-Street, near Malton, said his wife, Stef, 38, died on Wednesday at St James's Hospital in Leeds.

But he said she had enjoyed an extra three months of life thanks to the Issels Treatment that she underwent at the Oasis of Hope Hospital in Mexico.

She leaves a son, Kane, who is ten.

Mrs Axelby fought a long battle against cervical cancer and was told in July that she had only days to live.

Her husband and his family launched a fundraising appeal to send her to the Oasis of Hope Hospital to undergo the gruelling Issels Treatment, which focuses on rebuilding the immune system and reducing toxins in the body.

It includes a combination of a special diet, cancer-fighting drugs, and passing ultra violet light over her blood using a special machine.

She returned in August and said she was feeling "full of life".

Mr Axelby said: "She was feeling great for a month to six weeks. We were able to go on a family holiday to Spain, but it was while we were away that she took ill again.

"We were supposed to go for a fortnight but we had to come back after six days.

"If we hadn't got her to Mexico. Stef would have died in July. She was down to just days at that point.

"But she managed to keep going until Wednesday.

"It gave her that little bit of extra time. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing."

Mr Axelby said he was with his wife when she died "peacefully". Kane, who turned ten the day before, was said to be coping well.

The funeral will take place at Octon Crematorium on Tuesday October 28 at 2pm.

Updated: 14:18 Monday, October 20, 2003