A CANCER survivor is celebrating completing university and starting a new job by showing her support for Cancer Research UK’s ‘Right Now’ campaign.

As a 13-year-old Lilli Broadbent feared she would need to have her leg amputated as part of her treatment for bone cancer but the surgeon was able to save her leg and her life.

Now aged 23, she has just completed a degree with a 2:1 in Educational Studies at York St. John University and is looking forward to working at Durham Cathedral.

The teenager's parents became concerned when he knee was swollen, something she just put it down to an injury from Tae Kwon Do, but when the pain didn’t go away and she started to lose a lot of weight they took her to the GP.

She was immediately referred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for an x-ray, which revealed a tumour on her knee.

A biopsy at the Freeman Hospital then confirmed Lilli and her parents’ fears, that she had cancer and worse still that she may lose her leg because of the tumour.

The next day Lilli started chemotherapy, a gruelling 11 weeks of treatment that made her so poorly she lost so much weight she didn’t recognise herself. After several months of treatment she was given the all clear.

She said: “When I went to my GP cancer wasn’t something that even crossed my mind so it was a massive shock to me and my family. It’s thanks to research and treatment I’m still here today and that my leg was saved. Sadly some of the friends that I met on the ward didn’t make it so I’m determined to make the most of my life for them and their families too.”

Part of living life to the full has included completing her degree which she will graduate from in November and starting a new job as a visitor desk assistant at Durham Cathedral.

She added: "I used to struggle with aches and pains in my leg, but I can feel it getting stronger every day since I started work.

“I’m incredibly lucky to have been given these opportunities thanks to research. Life had barely begun when I was diagnosed, but now 10 years have passed and I’ve just been told that after my next check-up in 2020 I can be fully discharged as a patient at the RVI."

And now her experience is driving her to back Cancer Research UK’s ‘Right Now’ campaign, which show real patients undergoing cancer treatment within the last few years, followed up by current home video showing how research has helped them get back to enjoying life with their loved ones.

Lisa Millett, Cancer Research UK spokesperson, said: “We are so grateful to Lilli for her continued support of Cancer Research UK. There are many moments which encapsulate a person’s cancer journey and our ‘Right Now’ campaign aims to show both the realities of the disease and the positive impact research and improved treatments can have on their lives."

For more details visit cruk.org