Teenage Telford footballer rings in end of cancer treatment
A young cancer sufferer who is now in remission has donated an “end of treatment bell” to the oncology department that helped her.
Lauren Fishman, 16, played football for AFC Telford’s under-16s and also competed in the javelin, until her diagnosis of Ewing’s sarcoma in October last year.
It led to a year-long ordeal involving 14 cycles of chemotherapy and two bouts of surgery, but the youngster from Telford is now on the road to recovery.
To celebrate the end of treatment a friend of Lauren’s gave her a liberty bell for her 16th birthday.
In turn she decided to donate the bell to the oncology ward at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH), where she stayed several days a week in the midst of her treatment.
'Fantastic treatment'
Lauren’s mother Andrea said: “We wanted to do something nice for the ward and for the other children who are going through these tough times.
“The treatment Lauren had at Telford was fantastic.
“I would like to say a big thank you to all the consultants and the staff at the PRH children’s oncology ward.
“The last 14 months have been incredibly hard.
“As a parent to watch your child go through that is indescribable but we hope now she can start building herself up and get on with the rest of her life.”
Lauren returned to the PRH to ring the bell and hand it over to those who are still going through treatment.
The bell was made by Bill Cooper, a volunteer for the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire Blood Bikes.
Lauren returned to her school work on a part-time basis at Thomas Telford School this year, though she has been told that she can’t play football again because of her operation.
To help tackle her sarcoma, one of her ribs was removed along with the associated muscle and cartilage.
