A PUBLIC memorial was held today on the Sunshine Coast for Jess Ainscough, a popular Australian ‘wellness’ blogger who died last week at the age of 30 after a long battle with cancer.

Her family released a statement this week requesting privacy to grieve.

“I’m so proud of my beautiful daughter for her achievements, style, grace, sincerity and affection. I’m devastated although comforted to know that she is now reunited with my wife, Sharyn,” Jessica’s father Col Ainscough said.

Jess’ mother also died from cancer several years ago after shunning traditional medicine for alternative treatment.

“We are deeply appreciative of all the love and support coming in from around the world.

“My heart is broken but I feel incredibly blessed to have experienced a love and connection few are lucky enough to have.

“Jess and I shared the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and because of this we developed a love so deep that I will forever be grateful for.”

“I thank everyone who has shared their love and messages over the past week, it’s a comfort to know the positive impact Jess has had on so many lives,” partner Tallon Pamenter said.

Known as the ‘Wellness Warrior’ to her thousands of social media followers, Jessica was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called epithelioid sarcoma at age 22.

The cancer spread through her entire left arm and shoulder even after chemotherapy, and doctors told her the best chance of beating of the disease was to have her arm amputated. But she refused

Jessica declined all further conventional medical treatment to follow the Gerson therapy of ‘radical detoxification’.

“They were unimpressed,” she told The Australian in 2012. “They said I would die, basically. They used the phrase ‘nail in your coffin’.”

Instead of chemotherapy, Jessica followed the Gerson regimen of drinking 10 raw juices and undergoing five coffee enemas daily, as well as mineral supplements and sticking to a strict vegan diet.

“I didn’t chop off my arm. I didn’t go into aggressive, full-body chemotherapy. I didn’t accept that my doctor’s ‘solution’ was the only course of action,” Jessica wrote on her blog.

“I decided that I would do everything in my power to thrive in life, despite the looming expiration date I’d been given. I learned how to treat myself with absolute kindness & self-respect.

“I radicalised my diet. I systematically detoxified my body — and mind. I discovered that wellness isn’t a destination, but a loving (and unconditionally forgiving) relationship with your own body.”

Jessica died on Thursday last week, according to her website.

“On February 26th, 2015, the world lost one of its brightest sparks,” her site now reads.

“After 30 years, seven of which were spent thriving with cancer, Jess Ainscough peacefully passed away.”

Several doctors and oncologists have spoken out since Jessica’s death, warning people about the dangers of refusing traditional medical treatment.

Oncologist David Gorsk wrote on his blog, “Cancer deaths like this always sadden me. Jess Ainscough had a shot, one shot. She didn’t take it.

“What saddens me even more is that I can understand why she didn’t take it, as, through a horrible quirk of fate, her one shot involved incredibly disfiguring surgery and the loss of her arm. Still, I wish she had taken it and hadn’t instead decided to become an icon of ‘natural healing.’ (If she had, there’s about a 70% chance she’d still be alive today.)”

Australia’s leading cancer organisations do not endorse Gerson therapy as a means of treating cancer.

The National Cancer Institute says: “Because no prospective, controlled study of the use of the Gerson therapy in cancer patients has been reported in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, no level of evidence analysis is possible for this approach.

“The data that are available are not sufficient to warrant claims that the Gerson therapy is effective as an adjuvant to other cancer therapies or as a cure. At this time, the use of the Gerson therapy in the treatment of cancer patients cannot be recommended outside the context of well-designed clinical trials.

Cancer Australia says there is “little evidence” that alternative therapies are effective in cancer treatment.

“Most have not been assessed for efficacy in randomised clinical trials, though some have been examined and found to be ineffective.”

If you’d like to know more about cancer treatment in Australia, visit cancer.org.au or call 13 11 20.