Scottish schoolgirl among child cancer survivors who inspired poem about courage

Five-year-old Fearne Stewart, from Blantyre in South Lanarkshire, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – a cancer of the white blood cells – in April 2023 when she was just four years old.

In the previous weeks she had suffered symptoms including bruises, pain in her legs making it a struggle to walk, exhaustion, and, on the day of her referral appointment, a purple rash on her skin.

Her father Gary, 36, said: “Fearne had beautiful long hair when she was diagnosed and we had to explain to her that the chemotherapy treatment she needed meant that she would lose her hair.

“We thought Fearne would be very upset but actually she adapted well.

“When she felt well enough, Fearne was first in the playroom at hospital and we decided early on that if Fearne was fine then we had to be too.”

Fearne has started primary school and is now in remission, and is due to complete her chemotherapy in 2025.

She was one of five children selected as the inspiration for a poem to mark the launch of the next Cancer Research UK for Children & Young People Star Awards, which recognise the courage shown by children and young people facing cancer.

The other children involved are Saif Mubarak, nine and from London, Lily Bincliffe, eight and from Oxfordshire, Stanley Goodall, five and from Berkshire, and Benny Waters, nine and from the North West of England.

Each of them was asked by Coelho what courage looked and felt like to them, and he then wrote the poem Courage Looks Like Me.

Fearne’s description, as captured in the poem, was that courage was like “the SWOOSH of a superhero making every villain flee”, and “bouncy”.

Fearne, who received a star award herself earlier this year, said: “I feel proud to receive a star award and helping write the wonderful poem meant a lot to me.

“Bravery is bouncy because I can feel nervous and a bit jumpy in hospital.

“When I’m getting ready to be brave, I always take a deep breath, count to 10 and say ‘go’ to the nurses before treatment.

“After I’ve been brave I don’t feel as bouncy anymore and I know I am getting better.

“One of my favourite stories is Luna Loves Art by Joseph Coelho so I’ve loved helping to write the poem.”

Saif’s mother Romana told how much being part of the poem meant to her son, who had to have a leg amputated after a tumour the size of a golf ball was found growing on his knee.

“Saif was keen to think of the words and it was actually fun to do,” she said.

“It allowed him to explore his experience in his own way and in his own words, and gave him space to speak about his journey and say how he really feels.”

Coelho frequently works with children – but it was his first experience of working with children diagnosed with cancer.

“I was surprised by the children’s contributions,” he said.

“They came up with some beautifully poetic, sincere, emotive language and I learnt so much from their imaginative and moving choice of imagery.

“They blew me away; they’re all poets. There’s a maturity that sets them apart, because of what they’ve been through.

“I felt that I was hearing stories and reading words and ideas that came from a deep well of experience.

“They were willing to talk about their strengths, but also their challenges too, and that’s a particularly difficult thing for any of us to do – to talk about the times where we’ve been vulnerable.”

Fearne is one of the first people in Scotland to take part in the AllTogether-1 clinical trial.

The study, which is funded by Cancer Research UK and involves patients from countries across Europe, is investigating how to treat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia effectively.

Cancer Research UK is calling for more nominations for the star awards, which are open to all under-18s who live in the UK and have been treated for the disease within the past five years.

The charity said there is no judging panel because it believes every child diagnosed with cancer deserves special recognition.

For more information, visit cruk.org/starawards.