My mouth cancer hell, by Bucks Fizz’s Jay
BuCKS Fizz singer Jay Aston has mouth cancer which could stop her performing and may even rob her of her speech, it was reported last night.
the 1981 Eurovision winner, 57, will have surgery to remove part of her tongue, a procedure doctors have warned could destroy her chances of ever singing again.
And if more cancer is found and more of her tongue has to be removed there is a risk she will no longer be able to speak.
the singer, who lives in Kent with her musician husband Dave Colquhoun and 15-year-old daughter Josie, has been performing concerts with original bandmates Cheryl Baker, 64, and Mike Nolan, 63.
Desperate to continue performing, Miss Aston has recorded vocals to mime over at gigs before a biopsy on her tongue was taken. She said thoughts of rejoining the band and being able to watch her daughter grow up were keeping her going.
‘I have a young daughter, I want to see her grow up, I want to see her get married,’ she told the Mirror.
She added: ‘Being on stage with them [the band] is my happy place.’
Miss Aston will have skin removed from the top of her thigh to reconstruct her tongue, and has spoken to surgeons about keeping the scar high so it wouldn’t show during the band’s famed skirt-ripping routine.
And despite having a slice of her tongue removed for the biopsy and receiving the cancer diagnosis just two weeks ago, she performed on stage as recently as thursday, miming to the recordings she made before the biopsy.
But she says she is determined to return to the stage. ‘I’ll mime, I won’t be able to dance, and skirt-ripping will be interesting. But it’s getting me through,’ she said.