Jack Gilbert poses for a
family photo, just three days before his death

by Anna White

A brave teenage boy has taken his
final lap in life after losing his battle with cancer.

Sixteen-year-old motor racing fan Jack
Gilbert's body was driven round the Brands Hatch circuit before
being taken to Blue Bell Hill crematorium for his funeral
today.

The plucky teen from Cornwall Close,
Shepway died, with his parents and sisters Laura and Louise at his
bedside, at Demelza House last Wednesday.

Jack was first diagnosed with a brain
tumour aged two but defeated the disease and was given the all
clear by doctors five years later.

Tragically the cancer returned in his
bones in February.

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Brave Jack's final lap at
Brands Hatch

Speaking a few days ago, Mum Hayley
said: "We want to give Jack the best send off. He loved motor
racing ever since he found out cars could race. This will be like
his final lap and he'll cross the finish line first, with the black
and white flags waving."

Jack, who attended Five Acre Wood
School, in Boughton Lane, Loose, had been in good spirits until he
was taken ill two days before his death.

He went to the hospice and remained
unconscious until moments before he died.

"He opened his eyes just before he
stopped breathing," Hayley said. "He saw us all standing there and
knew we were with him. I know he would have given us one of his big
smiles if he could have done.

"He was always smiling and he never
complained. He'd even say thank you to the doctors when they gave
him medicine. He would always call the nurses doughnuts, it was his
own little catchphrase."

Jack meets his hero, F1
star Lewis Hamilton, at the British Grand Prix

Earlier this year, Jack was a VIP
guest of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone at the British Grand
Prix at Silverstone, where he bumped into his idol Lewis
Hamilton.

When the youngster wasn't watching
racing or playing with his Scalextric, he was spending time with
his civil engineer dad at Boughton Monchelsea Working Men's Club,
in Church Lane.

The father and son would spend every
Friday evening at the club playing pool.

The pair also volunteered at Brands
Hatch on the weekends.

Jack's sister Louise, 19, said her
brother had a very cheeky personality.

Adding: "He would press a button on a
talking or moving toy and leave it outside the room, or even worse,
leave his pants in our beds. He would hide around the corner
giggling to himself."

Guests were asked to wear red to the
service at the crematorium in tribute to his love of motor
racing.

Donations were due to be
collected after the service for Demelza House and the Peggy Wood
Foundation.