But this photograph hides a terrible sadness. Because just months after it was taken, cystic fibrosis sufferer Miss Hulme, 22, was dead.
She could have been saved had she had a lung transplant but her condition worsened before doctors could arrange an operation.The young mother, who was born with the genetic condition, died just over a fortnight ago while preparing to go on the waiting list for a double lung transplant.
She deteriorated so quickly that doctors were powerless to save her. Yesterday her family paid tribute to the ‘bubbly, outgoing, wonderful’ Miss Hulme, who they said doted on her son, Leo, four.
Her mother, Jackie Hulme, 47, a carer for adults with learning difficulties, said: ‘Naomi was a beautiful person, inside and out.
‘She was a bubbly, outgoing, wonderful girl who was taken from us far too soon.She adored Leo and he adored his mum.
‘Up until a few years ago Naomi lived a pretty normal life, cystic fibrosis never stopped her from doing anything. You would never have known that she was ill.
‘We had some professional photographs taken about 18 months ago, you wouldn’t have known she was ill, it’s just so sad.
‘But over the last six months Naomi hadn’t been home for two weeks at a time before having to go back to hospital. She had no quality of life at all, that’s when the doctors started talking about a transplant. She was having tests about going on the donor waiting list, but it takes time.
‘Then she got really poorly and went downhill fast. The doctors were shocked at how quickly she deteriorated.’
Miss Hulme was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was two years old.
She lived a normal life, going to school and taking part in dancing clubs. In 2005 she was nominated for a ‘breathing life’ award which honours the exceptional achievements of young adults and children with the hereditary lung disease.
Miss Hulme, who was separated from Leo’s father, even went through her pregnancy without any problems.
‘Until she was 16 she had always danced, taking part in competitions all around the UK and as far away as Malta,’ Mrs Hulme, who is looking after Leo following his mother’s death, with her scrap metal merchant husband, Barrie, 50.
‘She won hundreds of trophies and took to it straight away. In fact, it helped her condition as it would clear her lungs.Even her health when she was pregnant was fantastic, the doctors gave her a Caesarean section at 36 weeks, but said she could have gone full term.’
However, three years ago Miss Hulme’s health began to deteriorate.
‘She hated having the disease but never let it get on top of her until it worsened when she was 18,’ her mother, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, added.
‘We tried so hard, taking Leo to hospital, so they could have a normal mother and son relationship.
'He said his goodbyes about four days before she died –he says his mummy is an angel now.
'A family friend has named a star after Naomi and so Leo is still talking to his mummy who is in the sky.’
Shortly before her death, Miss Hulme made a heart-breaking video to publicise a charity night to help raise funds for a possible transplant.
The 57-second clip showed the pretty brunette wearing an oxygen mask and playing with Leo on her hospital bed.
She died five days after the event, at Wythenshawe Hospital, with her parents at her bedside, on October 16.
The couple said they have taken strength from the huge number of cards, flowers and messages of support ahead of their daughter’s funeral, at St Paul’s Church, Macclesfield, tomorrow.
‘Naomi was my world, I feel like my heart has been ripped out,’ Mrs Hulme, who also has a son, Ryan, 27, said.
‘She was very, very popular and the funeral is going to be incredibly difficult. She has left a huge hole that can’t be filled.
‘I feel bitter about cystic fibrosis at the moment because it has taken Naomi away from me.
‘But Naomi will never be forgotten, and Leo will always be able to hear from us how special his mummy was.’
