Thursday 27 February 2020

SCOTS CANCER TEEN GIVEN VIP TREATMENT AT NTA’s



Beverley Lyons 
A Scots teenager with brain cancer couldn’t believe  it when she was invited to the NTA’s as a guest of David Walliams and his team.
Thirteen year old Ellie Beattie went to London first class on the train, was chauffeur driven by limousine around London and was invited to the show as a VIP.
Ellie also received a personal message from David Walliams as well as video messages from Bradley Walsh and Ant and Dec on the trip, which was organised by Les Hoey MBE Dreammaker Charity. 
It was a real boost for the teenager who has been battling illness since she was seven when she first suffered from bad leg pains then headaches.
Ellie, who was taken into hospital in September 2017 and finally diagnosed with stage four metastatic pineo blastoma brain disease and leptomeningeal disease in May 2018, has had 32 doses of chemotherapy. 
Her mum Elaine said: “Ellie has been ill since she was seven and she’s really been put through the mill. She has had Bell’s palsy on her face, terrible headaches and lost her memory as the disease has spread. It’s been awful and she even ended up in a wheelchair after her chemotherapy. Her treatment finished in March 2019 when doctors had to cut it short because chemo nearly killed her. We are in a watch and wish situation now and she gets reassessed every three months. The disease is currently sleeping but it will get active again.”



Ellie, whose schooling has been interrupted by her illness, couldn’t believe it when Angela Cook from Les Hoey Dreammaker Charity got in touch to say she’d been invited down to the glitzy bash. 
She said: “It was amazing. I love David Walliams and have his book and couldn’t believe it when I got the random invite to the NTA’s. My mum had been talking to Les and the team about me and they invited me.  I got picked up by limo to go to the awards and when I was at the hotel I was gifted Gucci socks and given my note from David Walliams along with his book The Beast of Buckingham Palace. It said: ”Dearest Ellie I want you to know that I am thinking about you and sending you all my love.” He was too busy on the night hosting to say hello but I also got a video from Bradley Walsh as I’m a big fan of The Chase and he’s invited me down to the studios as his guest. Ant and  Dec also sent me a secret video  message too.”

Ellie was given VIP seats to the left of the stage where she and her mum could see the celebs up close as they went to pick up their awards. 
Elaine said: “We were on an aisle seat and we could see them coming down to go on the stage and shout down to them. When Tom Jones went by I said ‘What’s new pussy cat’ and he replied ‘Woah Woah Woah’.
Ellie reckons the whole experience made her forget about her illness for the evening. She said:  “The worst bit of my illness was being stuck in hospital  for months on end and this definitely made me feel happier than I have been.”
Les Hoey said: “This is the reason the charity was started. When these kids go to events like these they are the celebs.”