A young musician from Sunderland has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and is now crowdfunding to raise £450,000 to take part in a clinical trial in the USA.
Faye Fantarrow, 20, has played a number of festivals in the North East, including Mouth of the Tyne and Stockton Calling.
She had been booked to play Lindisfarne Festival and tipped as a rising star by BBC Introducing in the North East.
The singer-songwriter, however, revealed she was diagnosed with an aggressive glioma brain tumour at the end of the summer.
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Ms Fantarrow has previously been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when she was only eight.
She underwent a gruelling course of chemotherapy meaning she lost her of her hair, mobility and an easy-going childhood.
The cancer returned in 2015 when she was 13, leading to long stays in hospital, more chemotherapy, radiotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant.
After the ordeal, Ms Fantarrow began to take her passion for music seriously, gaining recognition in the North East.
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Last year, she was awarded the Alan Hull award for song-writing and was recently signed to Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records label.
In August this year, however, her plans were halted when she started to feeling ill again.
She returned to hospital for scans and was told her life was coming to an end.
Ms Fantarrow's glioma brain tumour diagnosis is believed to be an extremely rare consequence of the radiotherapy she had for her transplant as a teenager.
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In a post on her Twitter, she said: “This came as a complete shock and initially not a very good prognosis regarding my chances of survival.
“However I am so, so fortunate to be surrounded by the most supportive individuals who are refusing to give up on me.”
So it’s been a minute folks…. I hope this can explain why I’ve been so quiet as of late ( odd for me I know )…… pic.twitter.com/JIGHhOg2i1
— Faye Fantarrow (@FFantarrow) November 2, 2022
The 20-year-old has now been accepted onto a medical trial in California, and is crowdfunding to help pay for the staggering fees.
You can donate to Fight for Faye at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/abigail-thompson-2 or click here.
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