TEENAGE sisters left to care for each other after losing their mum held a music festival to keep her "courageous" and "inspirational" spirit alive.

Amelia and Olivia Thornber, 19 and 17, have been living alone together in Yarnton since they lost their mum Sarah-Jane to ovarian cancer in March.

Ms Thornber, who was 43, became a national role model for other ovarian and breast cancer sufferers after having a double mastectomy and several other operations.

She did a naked photo shoot for Good Housekeeping magazine for a piece on body confidence, took part in a charity fashion show and gave talks about her experience.

Despite saying goodbye to their mum in March, the sisters threw a music festival for her family and friends from around the county this month to celebrate her life.

They sold tickets and raised £1,850 for Ovacome, an ovarian cancer charity which their mum supported.

They are now hoping that SarahFest, at Daily Meadow Campsite near Aylesbury, could become an annual event.

Olivia, who is studying for her A-Levels at The Marlborough School in Woodstock, said her mum would have loved the festival.

She said: "A lot of people said to me she would have really enjoyed it.

"She was just an amazing, kind and caring person really. She didn't focus on herself or feel sorry for herself, she just tried to do the best for me and Amelia.

"If I can be anything like her I'll be happy."

Amelia, a former sixth former at Gosford Hill School in Kidlington, added: "She was absolutely courageous and inspirational.

"She taught me and Olivia to carry on with things, she never let it take over her life or ours."

Ms Thornber first got herself tested for the cancer gene BRCA1 after her mum passed away from cancer, and the results came back positive.

The gene increases a woman's chance of getting breast cancer from about 12 per cent to more than 50 per cent and ovarian cancer from 1.3 per cent to 39 per cent.

Ms Thornber elected to have a double mastectomy while in her 30s and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2010 aged 37.

After years of chemotherapy she passed away on March 14 this year.

With neither of the girls in regular contact with their fathers, Amelia suddenly became her sister's guardian while trying to organise a funeral and working to support them both.

The sisters are now looking forward: Amelia has this week started an English degree at Oxford Brookes and Olivia is hoping to study criminology and psychology.

But both the girls have looming over them the spectre of their genetic inheritance – the BRCA1 gene.

Amelia said: "We've not had the test yet but we've spoken about it a lot.

"Because I'm only 19, even if I was positive they wouldn't do anything about it – they might start scanning me when I get to 21, so until then I'm not going to decide."

The girls are still collecting in their mum's memory at justgiving.com/fundraising/Amelia-Thornber