Bryan Adams supports Dover teenager Kelly Turner's cancer battle at Canterbury concert
Published: 00:00, 14 August 2016
Updated: 11:05, 14 August 2016
The family of an inspirational teenager hoping to raise £1 million in her battle against cancer won the support of Canadian rock star Bryan Adams last night.
Kelly Turner, from Dover, went with her mum Linda and dad Martin to the concert at the Spitfire Ground in Canterbury.
The 16-year-old got the chance to meet the rockstar, and more importantly she raised more than £7,000 from fellow concert goers.
She is attempting to raise £1 million after she was diagnosed with Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT), a rare soft cell tissue sarcoma, in October last year.
Scroll down for video
After treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital she has responded well to nine rounds of chemotherapy, but the team at the hospital are not able to operate to remove tumours near her liver.
So her family have decided to seek treatment in America, and Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York will provide surgery, immunotherapy and possibly radiotherapy at a cost of £1 million.
Her cause was taken up by Bryan Adams last night, who agreed to pass collection buckets around to the audience.
Kelly was sat in the audience, and recorded footage of the moment when Bryan made his announcement of support.
Video: Bryan Adams dedicates song to Kelly Turner
He said: “So this is the deal, she is raising money to have an operation in New York. They have raised £100,000 so far, but they need to raise a lot more.
“So if you give as much as you can, that’s all I’m asking. This next song is dedicated not only to her and her family, but to all of you and your generosity tonight.”
The 56-year-old then sang a rendition of his famous hit Everything I Do, which was a long-standing number one hit and movie soundtrack.
Today he posted on his Instagram account and said the bucket was passed around the audience twice.
He wrote: “People power! Tonight we did something different, we passed a bin around between the audience and the band, and spontaneously raised around £10,000 pounds for 16-year-old Kelly Turner who is suffering from a rare cancer.
“The bin came back twice! I’m so proud of the audience tonight. Special thanks to the security at the gig who volunteered to go into the crowd and follow the collection.”
To support Kelly's fundraising efforts you can visit her Crowdfunding page.
More by this author
Aidan Barlow