AN INSPIRATIONAL teenager who has battled cancer during five years of "hell" has celebrated finishing her GCSEs by joining friends at her school prom.
Megan Harper, 16, of Martock Avenue, Westcliff, has an untreatable tumour in her palette and secondary cancer in her lungs.
She was diagnosed in October 2017 with alveolar soft part sarcoma – an extremely rare cancer which isn’t chemo sensitive.
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Her diagnosis came during a torrid year for the family, which saw both her dad and grandmother die in the same month.
It was that same month that her mother also discovered a lump under Megan's chin, which began the process of her being diagnosed.
“To have all that happen in the same month, it was horrific,” her mother Claire Harper said.
“Since her cancer diagnosis she has been diagnosed with so many other conditions, it has taken me ten years to get an autism diagnosis, only getting it this year.
“She has been through hell these last few years, bless her, it has been heart-breaking but she is so amazing and has battled through.”
Brave Megan, who also has scoliosis, was able to put years of heartache behind her when she attended The Eastwood Academy Year 11 leavers’ prom.
Joined by friends and family, it was a day of celebration for everyone involved.
“I was so very proud seeing her dressed up and excited for prom,” Claire said.
“It would have been hard to envision us being here when we got that diagnosis all those years ago, but she is my little warrior.
“We lost my father in early 2021, and he was one of her best friends, so she has a tough time but her continued smile helps me keep going.”
Megan continues to be an inspiration to her mother every day.
The 16-year-old is a cadet with St John’s Ambulance and is qualified to use a defibrillator.
“Despite all here diagnoses she has continued to live an amazing life and I am in awe of how amazing she is,” her proud mother beamed.
Megan is also an avid Southend United supporter who has “been on the Roots Hall terraces for years,” according to her mother.
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