Meet Taegen

Taegen's story

Taegen was only five when she was first diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma in February 2007 after a lump on her eye grew to the size of a small fist. She was given a 60-70% chance of survival but thankfully as her chemotherapy treatment progressed the outlook became much more positive.

Jacqui, Taegen's mum says: "One of the hardest things for her was losing her hair."

"We decided it would be best if I cut her hair short when it first started falling out and I'll never forget her sobbing in front of the mirror saying "I look like a boy!"

But Taegen soon came to terms with her hair loss and was delighted to be a bridesmaid for her aunt two days after her last bout of chemotherapy in September 2007.

"We bought her a little blonde wig to wear for my sister's wedding," said Jacqui. "At the end of the wedding she actually took the wig off and carried on as normal – I was so proud of her for that."

Taegen's bravery in fighting the disease won her a Cancer Research UK Little Star award, and Taegen has been helping to raise money to help fight the disease ever since, singing in a charity single and entering Race for Life every year with her mum.

Thanks to research, Taegen is now in remission and enjoying life to the full.

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