A real-life Disney princess who loved to sing and perform "always had hope" that she would get better before losing her life to cancer.
Emilia Magee, 28, dressed up as famous princesses - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Little Mermaid - to bring joy to children undergoing cancer treatment at Clatterbridge Hospital in Bebington. But she soon found herself being admitted to the hospital herself after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
Tragically, she died of the disease in February 2022.
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Her cousin Sam Roberts, 35, said: "Emilia was the life and soul. She was always a performer, always into theatre and singing. She was always on stage, and she turned that into a business, The Princess Experience."
In memory of Emilia, Sam has challenged himself to run the length of three marathons - 84 miles - from Chester to a campsite in Anglesey, North Wales, where their families spent many happy summers. The run will raise money for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, which supported Emilia throughout her illness.
Sam, a dad of two, said: "Emilia was at the Clatterbridge Centre a lot, in Liverpool. She was treated for skin cancer and given the all clear, and it came back at a later stage. It was hell. She ended up having to move back in with her parents, and her partner moved in with them so they could look after her, and that's where she eventually passed away.
"She decided in the end she didn't want to know how bad it was. They did some tests at the end of 2021 and got the results in January last year, which basically she only had weeks left. But she wanted to carry on planning what she wanted to do in the coming weeks and years. She always had hope.
"It came as a huge shock. Myself and my wife were still hoping she could come to our daughter's birthday party as a princess. We knew it was serious but we didn't know quite how serious it was until we got that news."
Emilia's parents, aunt, uncle and other cousins took part in the Glow Green Night Walk in February in aid of the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, and raised more than £4,000.
He said: "My aunt and uncle and my cousins and parents all did the Glow Green Walk and managed to raise a ridiculous sum, and I decided I wanted to do something myself.
"We spent a lot of time in Anglesey growing up and it's somewhere that holds a lot of memories of us as kids, playing on the beach and in the field. It's one of those places that holds a lot of happy memories of all the family together.
"Clatterbridge is a charity Emilia supported herself when she was well enough, but they also provided her with really great care when she was there, and supported the family. We wanted to give something back to them."
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