Brave cancer teen fights back
EMILY WAS BULLIED BUT WILL NOW LEAD MAJOR CAMPAIGN
A BURTON teenager cruelly bullied after putting on weight due to taking steroids as she battled leukaemia has been chosen to launch a national awards scheme for children with cancer. Emily Clements, 17, a sports leader, has spoken of her “roller-coaster” life after successfully fighting cancer from the age of three.
A BURTON teenager who was bullied after putting on weight due to steroids as she battled leukaemia has been chosen to launch a national awards scheme for children with cancer.
Emily Clements, who has started work as a part-time sports leader at Shobnall Leisure Complex, has spoken of her “roller-coaster” life after successfully fighting cancer from the age of just three.
Emily, who is now 17 and studying sport at Burton and South Derbyshire College, endured two-and-a-half-years of treatment with chemotherapy and steroids which made her gain weight.
The medication made her hungry, craving stodgy food, and she continued to eat bigger portions once she was clear of the disease.
At its peak, her weight reached 11 stones.
Speaking previously to the Burton Mail about her ordeal, she said callous bullies would call her “hot air balloon” and say “you are so fat”.
The name-calling was so bad it sometimes made her not want to go to school.
By the time she reached 13, she was so fed up with horrible remarks about her size that she joined the gym at Branston Golf and Country Club, took up running, and lost more than two stone.
In 2016, Emily’s change in fortunes continued when she was given a Can- cer Research UK Kids and Teens Star Award, having being nominated by mum Trudy in recognition of her courage.
And she has teamed up with the Cancer Research UK charity to encourage anyone who knows a young cancer patient to nominate them for an award in the run-up to Christmas.
Emily said: “I was overwhelmed to receive my award.
“Going through cancer treatment is tough but it can have an enormous effect on your life afterwards as well.
“There were times when I felt really down and I wanted to give up, but I’ve learned that life is a rollercoaster and you have to go through those down parts to get to where you want to be.
“I’m really proud to launch the Kids and Teens Star awards because I know only too well what a difference something like this can make to the way you feel as a young person.”
Paula Young, spokesperson for Cancer Research UK in Staffordshire, said: “We are delighted to have Emily launch our awards this year and we hope her story will give hope to those families struggling to come to terms with a child cancer diagnosis.
“There is no judging panel for the awards because Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens believes every child diagnosed with cancer deserves special recognition.”
The Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens Star Awards celebrate the strength shown by youngsters who have been treated for cancer.
All children nominated receive a unique trophy, a £50 gift card for TK Maxx, a T-shirt and a certificate signed by TV doctor Dr Ranjit Singh and a host of famous faces, including actress Dame Emma Thompson and pop stars Una Healy and Aston Merrygold, as well as children’s favourite entertainer Mister Maker. Siblings also receive a certificate.
The Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens Star Awards are sponsored by TK Maxx, the biggest corporate supporter of the charity’s research into children’s cancers.
Since 2004, the clothing retailer has raised more than £32 million for research to find “new, better and kinder” treatments for young people with cancer.
The Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens Star Awards are open to all under-18s who currently have cancer or have been treated for the disease in the last five years. To nominate a child for an award, visit www.cruk.org/kidsandteens
Around 150 children are diagnosed with cancer in the West Midlands and Staffordshire region every year.
But Cancer Research UK’s work has helped transform survival rates for children’s cancers, which has more than doubled in the last 40 years.
In the early 1970s, four in 10 under15s with cancer survived for at least five years. Today, it’s more than eight in 10.
An ongoing trial aims to see if changing the standard treatment for children and young people with a type of cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia can reduce side effects and help stop their cancer coming back.
Paula said: “Our mission is to fund research to find new, better and kinder treatments for young cancer patients. We want to bring forward the day when every child and young person survives cancer and does so with a good quality of life.”