As Danielle Paparone sat by the hospital bed of her boyfriend Jake Colburn in the final moments of his life, she made a vow to never let anyone else experience the same agonising grief she felt at losing a loved one to brain cancer.
The couple met in a coffee shop in 2012 and quickly fell in love, but 18 months later the pair’s lives were turned upside down when Mr Colburn was diagnosed with a grade II astrocytoma — a slow-growing brain tumour.
In October 2016, at just 27, Mr Colburn died after battling the disease for almost three years.
“(He was) very intelligent, very kind, friendly and compassionate,” Ms Paparone, now 31, said.
“But it was a very, very hard death and very cruel.”
During Mr Colburn’s battle, Ms Paparone quickly learnt there was a significant lack of funding given to brain cancer research.
According to Cure Cancer Australia, brain cancer is one of the most underfunded types of cancer and receives less than 5 per cent of cancer research funding from the Federal Government.
“The doctors and oncologists explained that brain cancer is so under-funded and under-researched,” the Beeliar resident said.
“It was very well known that this (Jake’s treatment) was not any form of cure, it was just a treatment to prolong his life.
“It’s (the brain is) just such a powerhouse organ, so it’s very hard to research when it’s just so complicated and technical.”
In the months after Jake’s death, consumed by grief and frustrated by the lack of funding into brain cancer research, Ms Paparone turned to her childhood hobby: jewellery making.
In 2017 Pearl Meets Crystal was born — a jewellery business selling bracelets, earrings and necklaces, bedazzled with Swarovski crystals, with all profits donated to the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.
But after being made redundant from her marketing role earlier this year, Ms Paparone — who is now married and pregnant with her first child — made the decision to honour her past by pursuing Pearl Meets Crystal full-time.
“I did initially try to look for another position but the desire to turn this (Pearl Meets Crystal) into a full-time job grew stronger and stronger,” she said.
“I knew I needed to do this and looking for another job didn’t seem like the right option for me anymore.
“I hope this expands into more stores and (I) would love to employ people to help if there was a need for it.”
To date, Pearl Meets Crystal has raised more than $16,000 for brain cancer.
“(The jewellery) is very modern and very classic,” Ms Paparone said.
“It’s just timeless pieces that you can wear with anything; it has a lot of colour and a lot of sparkle to it.”
She has sold her pieces via Etsy, Instagram and Australian newsagent chain The Lucky Charm to loyal customers all over the world, including in the UK, Tuscany and New Jersey.
“One day it could be going like two minutes down the road and the next day it could be across Australia or across the world,” she said.