Felicia Cantone inspired thousands with 17-year cancer fight

Samantha Kaya shared emotional tributes following her sad death this month.

She said: “For me, her dad and her sisters Marlena Cantone, Carlotta Cantone and Isabella Bonomo, no family roast, birthday, holiday, day out or Christmas will ever feel the same again.”

She added: “Goodbye my sweet baby girl, until we meet again.”

Ms Kaya said she would like to thank everyone who helped raise money for Felicia’s treatment, adding: “Her Gofundme page will be diverted towards other good causes in due course.”

A fighter from the very beginning, Southend’s Felicia Cantone could be the longest survivor of a rare form of cancer. The 23-yearold developed Ewing Sarcoma when she was only six-years-old, being given a 30 per cent chance of survival.

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She had to have a leg amputated four years later. But two days after the operation, she was back studying at North Street Junior School, and went on to study at Belfairs Academy in Leigh.

The cancer went into remission after rounds of chemotherapy, but at the age of 18, she was diagnosed for the third time.

She developed tumours in her lungs, scapula, her chest glands, and this year developed another in the lower part of her back, causing a fracture in her spine.

In the last few months of her life, Felicia’s family were researching other international alternative treatments to cancer - as doctors advised her body could no longer cope with further chemotherapy.

Felicia’s mum Samantha Kaya, an emotional interview with the Echo, said: “She had constant chemotherapy for five years and I think in the end it just gets the better of you. She lived her life to the maximum and lived a long length of time.

“Her doctor said Felicia was the longest surviving Ewing Sarcoma patient.

“She lived with it for 17 years.

“Two weeks before she died, she was in a lot of pain, she still insisted about going down to the nail bar to get her nails done. She carried on until the very end.”