Play it again... friends hold second cancer gig to support Sarah May
THEY’RE getting the band back together...
A caring group of friends who performed a fundraising gig for the Beatson are playing another gig.
In August, the Evening Times told the story of Sarah May Philo, who sang opera and told jokes during a gruelling nine hour brain surgery.
Her fiance, Paul Griffin – known as Griff – best friend Maria Antelmi, Maria’s husband Rik Evans, and friends Martin Willis and Neil Monk formed an AC/DC tribute band, called AD/GC.
And the group performed a special event at Blackfriars Bar, raising £3016.01 for the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in the process.
After that success, the band is now performing again on November 9 at Ivory Blacks.
Griff is appealing on JustGiving for donations.
He said: “The Beatson Cancer Charity provided my partner with life-changing treatment and support, as they do for thousands of other people living with cancer every day.
“I, and the rest of AD/GC, are very grateful for everything that they have done for Sarah-May and for so many other people.
“We want to raise as much money as we can for them - so if you can spare some money for our Just Giving page, please give what you can.
“If you can come to the gig at Ivory Blacks on the November 9 then that would be magic.
“But still give us your money. “After everything that happened in the last year and a half, we could only ever do it as a fundraiser for the Beatson.”
Sarah May’s illness came completely out of the blue as she had no warnings or symptoms.
The 34-year-old teacher had a seizure in early December last year, which led to her being diagnosed with a huge tumour in her brain of a type called Oligodendroglioma.
Sarah May, who also performs stand up comedy, had to have a nine-hour operation for much of which she was kept awake.
To the amazement of doctors, she sang opera and cracked jokes.
And this positive attitude is what helped her through treatment at the Beatson, which included chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Before chemotherapy, she had a round of IVF in order to harvest and freeze her eggs in the hope of starting a family one day.
Sarah May lost her hair as well, a process she found difficult but dealt with using
news@ eveningtimes. co.uk positivity and humour.
In between the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments there was also a surprise in store when Griff proposed.
The couple plans to marry in June next year, a day Sarah May says will be the “best ever”.
Sarah May has written a blog about her experience, which she describes as having helped her process everything she was going through.
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/BUYT2
To read Sarah May’s blog, visit www.sarahmayp.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/ brain-boogers/