Young friends helping each other in fight against cancer
Five women from across the Midlands who were diagnosed with cancer in their teens have shared the story of their friendship for a charity campaign.
Leah Jenkins, Sophie Wheldon, Lauren Poulton, Charlie Aldred and Georgina Haywood are all featured in a charity film for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
And the friends – from Walsall, Birmingham, Stourbridge, Bedworth and Burton-on-Trent respectively – first met on a unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
They were on the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the Birmingham hospital, with the charity-funded unit bringing people aged 16 to 24 in the region together.
Their story – of how they tackled brain and blood cancers – has been made for the Friendship and Cancer campaign which aims to educate better on how to be a good friend to someone battling the condition, with figures showing almost half of people surveyed were unsure what to say or do when their friend was diagnosed.
Leah, aged 20 and from Walsall, has been diagnosed with cancer twice – once aged 16 and then aged 17. She said: "We’d always have a laugh together, me and Sophie would always joke about our ‘Gucci’ bags – these ugly bags you carried around with your morphine drip in. We just styled them out as best we could!
"Having those girls there meant I felt like I had a family in hospital too – they knew how I was thinking and feeling as they were going through the same thing. We’re still in touch now and we’ve got a chat group called The Queens, and we speak every day. If any of us are having a bad day or having trouble with any after-effects of cancer we’re straight on there to get advice and support from the others."
Lauren, aged 20 and from Stourbridge, said: "To start with I was treated at a different hospital on a normal ward with lots of older people.
"When I was transferred to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit it was totally different – it was bright and colourful, they had a games and TV room, and people were the same age as me.
"On my first night there I ended up watching Love Island with Sophie! Then gradually I met all the other girls. Our friendship has meant the world to me."
Sophie, aged 23 from Birmingham, added: "As each of us was admitted we were gradually brought together and having the girls there who I knew in my heart understood what I was going through was everything. There are lots of things that doctors and nurses just don’t get as they haven’t been through it - but talking to the girls meant that I always felt listened to and validated.
"After cancer you still need support and we’ve said that we’ll always be there for each other. We feel so lucky to have gone through it all together and have promised that we’ll never lose touch."
Helen Veitch, head of youth support co-ordinators for Teenage Cancer Trust, said: "It is totally understandable to feel scared when your friend has cancer, and not know what to say or do, or be afraid of saying the wrong thing or asking the wrong question.
"But not contacting your friend as much, or not getting in touch at all because you feel awkward or frightened, can feel to your friend like you’ve forgotten or even abandoned them at a time when they really need you.
"Speak to them about how you are feeling, ask how you can help them out, and find out more about how you can support them on the Teenage Cancer Trust website."
For more information, visit teenagecancertrust.org/friends
