A teenage girl who is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer will continue her efforts to do 10,000 keepie-ups to raise money for a cancer charity.
Isobel Hemmings, 15, from Essex, was diagnosed with germ cell cancer in May after spotting a large lump in her stomach.
Germ cell cancer often occurs in teenagers, and germ cell tumours develop from cells that produce eggs or sperm so they often appear on the ovaries or testes, but can develop anywhere in the body.
Ms Hemmings underwent a successful operation to remove a tumour the size of a rugby ball that had grown on her ovary.
After being told she would be unable to play football for months during treatment and recovery, she began this challenge to thank Macmillan for helping her and hoped it would help her to rebuild strength.
However, at the beginning of November, Ms Hemmings was told she would have to begin chemotherapy after test results confirmed that the cancer had spread to her lungs.
She began the treatment immediately and will have her final treatment on Boxing Day, but decided to continue to do the keepie-ups challenge despite her increased tiredness.
Ms Hemmings told the PA news agency: “My diagnosis just shows that no matter how healthy you are, you could be the fittest person in the world, but something can still impact your life.
“So definitely I want to raise awareness, and I think just hope and positivity, because obviously in times like this, it is tough, but you’ve got to try and stay strong.
“And doing all the things that I love like doing the keepie-ups, it can put your mind off it and it shows you’re staying strong for everyone and yourself.”
She has completed 7,000 keepie-ups so far and raised £1,900 for Macmillan.
Ms Hemmings said the chemotherapy is “very tiring” and a “very long process” and makes doing the keepie-ups much more tiring.
She said: “I think it affected me more than what I thought it would, I underestimated it a bit.
“It can be harder sometimes because obviously the chemo makes you very tired and it makes my legs get very heavy.
“So, something that should be really easy for me, the chemotherapy can make it a lot more tiring than what it would usually be.”
Deborah Hemmings, Isobel’s mother, said she hopes that sharing her daughter’s story will help others going through the same thing, and increase awareness around germ cell cancer.
Mrs Hemmings told PA that it is “hard to come to terms with the fact” that her daughter is ill.
She said: “It’s hard because at the moment she looks okay, so it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that she’s ill because she looks fine.
“Obviously when she has really bad days and she looks tired and she looks very unwell, it’s hard to take in.
“But you’ve just got a crack on with everyday life and get on.”
She also said Thundersley Rovers Football Club, the local team that her daughter used to referee for before her diagnosis, have been extremely supportive.
