Even on the bad days Chessie still smiled... there’s always happiness
EMMERDALE’S EDEN ON SISTER’S CANCER FIGHT...
NESTLED at the foot of her sister’s bed, Emmerdale star Eden TaylorDraper and her younger sibling, Francesca, giggled as they settled down for their weekly sleepover.
After tucking in to a KFC and laughing until they cried at Come Dine With Me, they snuggled down with hot chocolate before bed.
But although it may seem like the perfect girlie evening, the bed they were in was on a hospital ward.
Those precious moments were one of the few glimpses of happiness that Eden enjoyed with her sister as Francesca underwent intensive chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of just 14.
Every week, Eden, then 20, would visit her little sister, who she’d watch videos of social media influencer Zoella with and share make-up tips.
Together they would try to forget the cancer and simply be sisters.
Eden, who plays Belle Dingle in Emmerdale, says: “I stayed over a few times a week. Chessie had her bed and I had a little bed next to her.
“Mornings would be a snuggle, cup of tea and re-runs of Come Dine with Me. I tried to keep Chess as cosy as possible.
“We’d always say love you before bed, and that everything would be OK.”
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And, even in the darkest of times, the family – mum Nicola, 47, dad, Richard, 45, and siblings Sebastian, 15, Pollyanna, 12, and Posy, 10 – never doubted that Francesca would make it through.
Eden says: “We’ve got such a strong, family. When our mum puts her mind to something she’s always going to do it. She said, ‘You are getting better and that’s it. We’re going to get through it’.”
Now, two years later, not only is Francesca – who Eden affectionately calls Chessie or Chess – thriving, but the sisters say that the experience has brought them even closer together.
Eden, 22, explains: “We’re really close but it’s definitely made our bond much stronger. From the moment Chessie was diagnosed, we’ve been speaking nonstop. From day one of this journey, Chessie’s just smashed it. Even on the bad days she’s still smiled or there’s always been a moment of happiness.
“When Chess went back to school, I couldn’t imagine myself in that position – balancing being a normal child and also going to hospital and my eyelashes falling out. It’s horrendous, but it’s made Chessie who she is and the way we all are now and how we think about life and love each other. I’m beyond proud.”
Francesca first started feeling unwell in April 2018, when she began experiencing excruciating leg pain.
The teen, who lives in North Yorks with her family, explains: “I wasn’t able to sleep. Mum was squeezing my legs because I was in so much pain. I also had a rash all up my legs.”
Concerned, the family went to hospital for tests in May 2018 and were rushed to hospital by an ambulance that turned up at their door at 12.30am.
Just a few hours later, Francesca was given the devastating news she had cancer. She explains: “They told my parents first. My dad came back in and I could see that he’d been crying.
“He tried to hug me and say we’ll all get through this together, but I told him to get off because seeing him like that scared me. Then the doctor came in and said there were traces of cancer in my blood. I felt like I’d been winded and like I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t feel real.”
Meanwhile, Eden who lives in West Yorks, found out the news while she was at work on set at Emmerdale.
She says: “When I came off set for my tea break, Dad called and it was such a blur. I felt like someone had ripped my stomach out and I broke down.
“I was with Issy Hodgins, who plays Victoria [Sugden], when I got the call, and she just held me for ages.
“I couldn’t go back to do my next scene. But Emmerdale were so supportive and let me go see Chess at Leeds General straight away.”
Francesca went through four rounds of chemotherapy, contracted sepsis and lost her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. At
When they told me I had cancer, I felt winded. I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t feel real
FRANCESCA TAYLOR-DRAPER ON HER LEUKAEMIA DIAGNOSIS AT THE OF AGE 14
one point, her weight dropped to under four stone and she couldn’t even stand up by herself.
Francesca explains: “At the time, 97% of my blood was cancer so I started intensive chemo the next day. At first, it wasn’t as bad because it’s being newly introduced to your body. But as it goes on, all the effects pile up on each other and it gets very
A LONG ROAD The sisters in hospital. Right, Francesca today difficult for your body to deal with it. When I was told I had cancer I thought it was a death sentence. It’s such a scary word.” Francesca stayed on the Teenage Cancer Trust ward at Leeds General Infirmary and Eden was written out of the Emmerdale script for a month so she could be by her side. She says: “I used to always try and fit on her bed – we are such a huggy family. I’d get a snuggle in whenever I could. Emmerdale were amazing. I messaged everyone and they said I could call them if I needed. People sent me gifts to give to Chessie, which was cute.”
Francesca had intensive treatment until December 2018 and the following month, started maintenance chemotherapy. She still attends once a month and takes chemo tablets every day.
Now 16, she is following in her sister’s footsteps as she takes to the screen for a film produced by Teenage Cancer Trust.
The charity is set to lose 50% of its income due to coronavirus and needs to raise £5million to keep its vital frontline services going.
The sisters are keen to raise awareness for their emergency appeal.
Eden says: “Without the Teenage Cancer Trust, I don’t think our journey would have been the way it has. You realise the power that a charity has to make your worst nightmare a little bit more bearable. And that’s something we have to support.”
And the family have even more good news on the horizon – Francesca is set to finish her maintenance treatment in September and start studying for her A-levels at college.
Francesca says: “You ring the bell at the end of treatment. I’m very excited for that. We’ll be celebrating for ages.”
Eden adds: “I didn’t think anyone in the world could be as incredible and brave and funny as my sister. She’s the most beautiful soul on the planet.”