Celebrity Bake Off fans in tears over ‘saddest ever’ cancer story as child, 11, dies during filming
CELEBRITY Bake Off fans were left in tears tonight over the tragic story of a young girl and her mum, who both died from cancer.
Their story was aired as part of the show, which is raising money for Stand Up To Cancer, and it was revealed that Elizabeth, 11, had died during the making of the film.
Viewers – who were watching Danny Dyer, Rhod Gilbert, Yinka Bokinni and Leigh Francis take on the tent – expressed their upset over the distressing scenes.
One person commented: “That’s gotta be one of the saddest cancer films they’ve done.”
A second said: “Oh good lord. That poor family. That brave brave girl.”
While a third added: “This is heartbreaking to watch.”
And a fourth said: “Jesus Christ that poor family. Bawling my eyes out.”
Double tragedy
Elizabeth was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of three after a growth near her eye turned out to be a rare type of neuroendocrine carcinoma.
After two surgeries failed to prevent it from returning, in 2020, doctors removed Elizabeth’s eye and some of the surrounding tissue. She also received six weeks of proton beam therapy to directly target the cancer cells.
While supporting Elizabeth through her four cancer diagnoses, her mum, Charlotte was diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks after giving birth to her third child, Jack.
She underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy and was told she was cancer-free.
However, as the family headed towards 2022, Charlotte discovered her cancer had returned and had spread to her bones and shortly afterwards she passed away.
As the family tried to come to terms with Charlotte’s loss, Elizabeth was undergoing tests for pains in her hips.
They were initially considered to be growing pains or arthritis, but the day before Charlotte’s funeral, the family was given the devastating news that Elizabeth’s cancer had also returned.
Final weeks
This time, Elizabeth’s cancer was widespread and incurable and due to the rare type of disease she faced, the treatment options were limited.
She began chemotherapy but sadly passed away a few weeks later, surrounded by her family.
Matthew said: “Even when Elizabeth knew that she wasn’t going to get better and that she only had a few days left, her first thought was that she wanted to make sure her siblings were alright and that she had to get a birthday present sorted for her dad.
“She was just like her mum, putting others before her, even at the worst moment of her life.
“The fight was never too much and her ability to accept and process everything that happened to her was inspiring. Elizabeth never allowed her cancer to get in the way of her life.”
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