Living like Lulu: inspiring story of strength, laughter, and making every moment count

Touching words from the Rotherham teenager are included in a moving short film from the charity to launch Talk About Dying.

Meanwhile, her family are determined to take the £95,000 Lulu raised for TCT over the £100,000 milestone this year in her memory.

Lulu was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2019, aged 15. After eight months of intense chemotherapy — 24 hours a day for seven days every fortnight — and after having a leg amputated, she was told she was cancer-free.  

Last April, while studying at Newcastle University, she had pain in her shoulder, which was initially dismissed as a sporting injury.

But after a CT scan, Lulu received the devastating news that she had tumours in her shoulder, ribs, and chest — and that her cancer was terminal.

Mum Carolyn said: “There was a lot more to Lulu than her cancer.

“She had a lust for life, for people, and a spontaneity that was infectious. If she wanted to do something, she did it.  

“Lulu’s specialists said that further chemo could buy her a little bit more time but that’s not what she wanted. She didn’t want to spend any of the time that she had left in a hospital bed.

“Danielle, her Teenage Cancer Trust Nurse, and NHS staff working at the charity’s units in Newcastle and Sheffield, went above and beyond to make sure she could do the things she wanted in the time she had left, like go to Glastonbury.

“She went with her friends on a ton of pain relief.

“It was all arranged so that she could store and take it in the first aid tent.

“Had she become really unwell, she wouldn’t have had to go to A&E — a named contact at the local hospital had been briefed about her whole history and was on hand if needed.”

Last summer also saw Lulu visit Magaluf with friends, Amsterdam with boyfriend Paddy, and enjoy family trips to London, Northumberland and Manchester.

The Run With Lulu 5km event in September 2022 added £21,000 to the amount she raised. She crossed the finish line on her prosthetic with a broken shoulder blade.

Weeks later a scan showed the cancer had spread more quickly than expected and, by December, Lulu was unable to leave her house.

“We didn’t think she’d make it to Christmas,” said Carolyn. “But she wanted to show Robin, her oncology consultant, that she’d get to 2023, and she made it to New Years Day.

“People say they are changed after seeing how she lived, especially in the last six months of her life.

“They got that tattoo they always wanted or booked a holiday. ‘Living like Lulu’ has become a bit of a mantra for so many.”

Lulu died at home with her family and loved ones, and the new campaign includes online resources to help young people talk about receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Carolyn said: “During her treatment and when it was found Lulu’s cancer was terminal, we had so many difficult conversations as a family, and Teenage Cancer Trust and her team helped facilitate those.

“Discussing the arrangements for her to die at home, helping her choose the spot where she wanted to be buried, and talking about her plans for the celebration she wanted after her death was so hard, we needed that support.

“We will never stop grieving for Lulu but knowing that she was able to express what she wanted and being able to fulfil those wishes brings us some comfort.”

TCT chief nurse Dr Louise Soanes said: “We are so thankful to Lulu and her family for their fundraising and sharing their story, which will help so many other young people with cancer.

“We are proud that our incredible nurses and youth support teams work every day to support young people and their loved ones in this situation, because talking about dying is important, and no wishes or worries any young person has towards the end of their life have should go unspoken.”

Carolyn added: “If sharing Lulu’s story and our fundraising helps another young person or their family then we can take some comfort from that.”

q Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carolyn-blundell3 to donate to the family’s appeal and for more on the campaign, see www.teenagecancertrust.org/talkaboutdying.

Lulu’s words from the film, called Lulu: Forever 19  

FOR the last three months I’ve been living, breathing and feeling probably most people’s worst nightmare.

I’m sure everyone who follows me vaguely knows I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 15. I went through chemo and had my leg amputated, and on January 20, 2020, I was cancer free!

Two-and-a-half amazing years later — full of laughs and smiles — and unfortunately, I found out my cancer has come back in four spots, and I have made the decision not to go through chemo; rather be on palliative care and keep all my pain under control until we no longer can...

Despite being told I have relapsed, and now being terminally ill, I’ve laughed and loved harder than I ever have in my life the past few months.

Happiness can be found in any situation at any point, and a pinch of kindness will never go amiss; behind closed doors someone might need you to be their ray of sunshine.

Every single nurse, therapist, social worker that has worked alongside me has been my little ray of sunshine.

Time and time again through chemo, remission and relapse they have saved my life whether that be physically or mentally...

I hope after reading this I’ve inspired you to do the things you said you were going to do tomorrow — make the people around you smile, and stop worrying about the things that don’t need worrying about.

Life is too short.

A SPONSORED fitness class from 9am on Saturday, June 3, will help add to the fundraising total.

The event at Maltby’s Full Life church is being organised by instructor Rachel Walker and Jess Willey, who taught Lulu and became a family friend.

Donations can be made at the same justgiving.com as above.