Shropshire cancer survivor appears in national TV ad
A Shropshire teenager is starring in a national TV advert for a cancer charity – after beating the disease herself as a child.
Thea Sargeant, 18, survived kidney cancer as a little girl, and her story is now the focus of a Cancer Research UK TV advert highlighting the power of "legacy giving" – or leaving money in your will to help save lives.
Thea, from Bucknell in south Shropshire, was successfully treated at the age of six and features in the moving advert with her mum Sally to support the awareness drive, called ‘Write an end to cancer’.
The pair also feature in posters being displayed in the charity’s shops across the UK this month.
Fighting back the tears in the advert, Thea’s mum Sally recalls how she saw her daughter ‘disintegrating’ in front of her before the treatment began to work.
She said: “You don’t think that you should ever have to think about planning your own child’s funeral and that’s, in my darkest days, how I thought.
“That’s something that you should never, ever have to think.”
Thea was diagnosed with a type of kidney cancer called a Wilm’s tumour in 2004. She underwent a seven hour operation to remove the tumour which was particularly tricky as it was stuck against her liver. Her weight plummeted to below three stone following surgery but she battled back after chemotherapy and made an amazing recovery.
The pair have been supporting Cancer Research UK ever since the treatment and were thrilled to be asked to appear on TV for the charity’s latest campaign.
Sally said: “Thea is living proof that research works and it needs to continue.
"I’m so proud of her. She’s studying in health and wants to go into paediatric oncology and I just think it’s amazing.
"But none of it would be possible without people supporting Cancer Research UK and donating through wills.”
Thea, who is studying health and social care at Ludlow College, said: “I’m so grateful for the treatment that saved my life.
"Success stories like mine would not be possible without Cancer Research UK’s work, which in turn relies on everyone who donates much needed funds.
"By leaving a gift in their will – no matter how big or small the donation – people can give many more families like ours the incredible gift of hope.”
Gifts left to Cancer Research UK in Wills fund over a third of its pioneering work, helping to turn discoveries made in the lab into better treatments for patients in Shropshire and across the UK.
As well as traditional sums of money, a range of diverse and unique things have been left to Cancer Research UK in wills from book royalties to a stuffed parrot, a surfboard and a collection of 2,500 model buses and lorries.
Paula Young, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Shropshire, said: “There are around 200 types of cancer and we won’t stop until we find cures for them all. That’s why we’re grateful to Thea and Sally for helping to raise vital awareness.
“When someone writes Cancer Research UK into their will, they are helping to create a future free from the fear of cancer.”
For more information about leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in your will visit cruk.org/WriteAnEnd or call 0800 035 9000 for an information pack.
