Girl, 7, chosen to front cancer charity's adverts

A girl who spent three months in hospital during cancer treatment says she is "amazed" to have been chosen to front a marketing campaign for the Cancer Research UK charity.

Doctors found a tumour the size of a melon after Faye, from Liverpool, was taken ill at school in 2023.

She had a 10-hour operation at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and underwent 18 months of treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a type of soft tissue cancer.

The seven-year-old, whose recovery is being monitored, is now pictured on Cancer Research UK's posters in more than 500 of their shops.

Images of her smiling on her hospital bed and on her first day back at school were used after she took part in the charity's clinical trials, which aimed to reduce damage to surrounding organs.

On discovering she had been depicted on the poster, Faye told BBC Radio Merseyside: "I felt so amazed to see it. I just could not believe my eyes.

"Going through cancer is quite hard to go through."

Her mother Bex said: "It was just so nice to have the opportunity to turn something that's been a bit negative and a bit rubbish, into something that's actually quite exciting.

"Everybody's proud of their children when they see them do well.

"But to do well whilst overcoming the odds really is particularly something that really makes you feel that she is special."

Cancer Research UK says 400 children and people aged under 24 in north-west England are diagnosed with cancer each year.

Bex said: "The thing about childhood cancer is we say it's rare but in reality, it's not very rare.

"It's a bigger picture than just helping Faye - it's the fact that it might impact outcomes going forward for people who end up in Faye's position.

"That's why we were so keen to have her on the posters."

Faye has also raised £9,000 for Alder Hey by making 'fairy potions' that have sparkles in a jar of water.

Bex said her daughter "doesn't realise her own bravery".

"There's been times that have been really tricky, but we've managed to get through them with the support of family or the hospital."

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