Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I lost my lower leg to cancer.. now I just want to make music
MUSIC fan Lulu Blundell spent her early teens dashing between swimming lessons and rugby matches to live gigs.
Then aged 15, on the day of her first GCSE exam in May 2019, she learned she had Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“I remember thinking, I hope they don’t cancel our holiday – because I thought I’d be fine in a few weeks. It was disbelief,” recalls Lulu, now 18.
Mum Carolyn, 53, says: “Lulu had been complaining of a pain in her lower leg and she was referred for a biopsy.”
Treated at Weston Park Hospital, in Sheffield, she embarked on intensive chemotherapy. “It was scary,” says Lulu, whose dad is teacher Stephen, 54.
“Lulu was there five days in a row, 24 hours a day getting chemo,” says executive head teacher Carolyn. “It was brutal. She’d have five days, then a week off, another five, then a week off, for 10 months. She is extraordinary.”
In October 2019, Lulu had her lower left leg amputated at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham.
“Lulu ended up in high dependency, and six or seven times we thought we might lose her,” says Carolyn.
Thankfully, Lulu, whose brother Seth is 17 months younger, pulled through. “I’d known from when I was diagnosed it was going to be amputated, it was the best option,” Lulu says. Her mum adds: “Three weeks after her amputation she went to a Liam Gallagher gig.”
The chemo ended in January 2020. She started an English degree at Newcastle University in September but she still needs scans every 12 weeks.
Lulu, who raised £50,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, would love a Fender guitar, through Mirror Christmas Appeal partner Make-a-wish UK.
“I love music so much and played the piano,” she says. “I’d love to have my own guitar for something fun to do.”
Her mum adds: “After everything she’s been through, and the bravery she’s shown in helping to raise money, we’d love to make that wish come true.”