CHRISTIANSBURG -- Shirley Womack helped her son, Daniel, battle his cancer.

After being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma -- a rare bone cancer that affects only about 200 young Americans each year --the 12-year-old boy lost his left leg in November when surgeons at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital had to amputate the affected limb.

Shirley Womack was at the hospital during the surgery, just as she had been by Daniel's side through earlier radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The woman who adopted Daniel after she had already raised four children was determined to remain strong.

She wanted Daniel to survive the disease that was killing her.

On Saturday, Shirley Womack's own battle with cancer ended. The 64-year-old mother, grandmother and great-grandmother died at her home.

"She really wanted to make it to Christmas," said her husband, Charlie. "To beat it all, she made it to the last day of the year. She didn't make it to the new year."

"Most sweetest woman I ever knowed in my life," Charlie Womack said of his wife. "The last thing she said when she could still talk was to take care of Daniel the best I could. I told her, 'Honey, you know I will.' "

Gene Dalton | The Roanoke Times

Daniel Womack and his mother, Shirley. Donations can be made to: Daniel Wayne Womack Cancer Fund, National Bank of Blacksburg, 101 Hubbard St., Blacksburg, Va. 24060.

Charlie and Shirley Womack took Daniel in when he was just a baby because his mother -- Shirley's niece -- wasn't able to care for an infant.

In 1997, Shirley was diagnosed with breast cancer. A mastectomy on her right breast appeared to have freed her of the disease but the cancer reappeared in June 2004. It had spread to her abdomen.

Shirley Womack was undergoing chemotherapy when Daniel's cancer was discovered a year later.

"I think he was prepared for cancer because of me," she said in a September interview.

On Thursday, Charlie Womack recalled the special bond between his wife and son. Their illness and their connected spirit forged a strong emotional tie.

"He used to go in there and lay with her," Charlie Womack said of Daniel. "He said, 'Mommy, me and you has got the same thing. We're just alike.' "

Since his surgery, Daniel has continued to need chemotherapy. The treatments have weakened his immune system and lowered his white blood cell count.

Recently, he has been taking antibiotics for an infection that caused him to run a high fever.

"He's been a trouper through it all," Charlie Womack said, noting that Daniel insisted on attending his mother's funeral without the aid of a wheelchair.

"He wanted to walk on his crutches. He wouldn't have that wheelchair. He took it better than I did."

In late November, doctors told Shirley Womack that her chemotherapy wasn't working. They told her the end was coming and, her husband said, "she accepted it."

During her last stay in the hospital, Shirley Womack was baptized by the Rev. Bill Macnahan.

"He did it right there in the hospital sink," Charlie Womack said. "She was so happy. She had this big smile on her face."

Charlie Womack, a maintenance foreman for Acco Stone Co., has tried to work as much as possible while caring for his wife and son. The company, he said, has supported him through the family crisis.

"So many times I've had to take off with Daniel and they've been there for me. Acco Stone has really been there for me."

Others in the community have been there, too, Charlie Womack said. The outpouring of support has been humbling.

Carolyn Alls, Shirley Womack's sister, said one of the things Shirley Womack wanted to do before she died was write thank-you notes to the people who contributed to a fund for her son's medical expenses.

"She never got to do that," Alls said.

"She was so weak she couldn't hardly make it," Charlie Womack explained, adding that he also appreciates the money people have given. "Believe me, that's really helped."

The fund, which had totaled about $3,000, is now depleted. Because the Womacks couldn't afford life insurance, Charlie Womack has funeral bills on top of medical bills.

With help from his extended family, he's hoping he can continue working while caring for Daniel.

"I have to work financial-wise," he said. "Daniel has already had seven or eight blood transfusions. He's got a long road ahead of him. The doctors told me I could lose him faster than poor Shirley."

Now, however, Charlie Womack is determined to take his wife's place in Daniel's battle.

"She hoped and prayed for his recovery," he said. "She was always there for Daniel."