More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A memorial bench for a teenager who died of a rare cancer has been unveiled.
It was inaugurated on Saturday on the fourth anniversary of Kelly Turner's death at the age of 17.
Nearly 100 people attended the ceremony at the new Clock Tower Square at Dover Western Docks including her parents Martin and Linda Turner.
Mr Turner, of Dover, told the audience: "Linda and I continue to try to fund the important research by the Institute of Cancer Research for a cure for the type cancer that took our Kelly's life.
"Please sit and enjoy the views from Kelly's bench, She like Linda and I so loved Dover seafront and would be so honoured to know you're here and remember her."
The inauguration was officiated by Gordon Newton, a retired Methodist Minister who co-led Kelly's funeral service.
He told the crowd: "If Kelly was with us today she would be 21.
"Our natural reaction is to focus on all the things that might have been. She might have been completing her university course she might have been going on to reach her dream of becoming a radiographer.
"For those of us who knew her she was a shy but friendly and responsive girl who often gave us a wonderful smile.
"And of many of us there is the enjoyment of her artwork because she was extremely talented.
"But one of the amazing legacies that she has left this town is the way that so many people pulled together to raise money for her treatment.
"To raise more than £600,000 is nothing short of amazing and many friendships were formed and strengthened during those fundraising events."
Kelly, of Dover, was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer called desmoplastic small round cell tumours when she was 15 and was given two years to live.
She needed £1 million for specialist treatment in New York to save her.
When KentOnline broke her story in June 2016 there was a massive fundraising effort for her in Dover and neighbouring towns.
The person who raised the most as an individual for her was Jordan Walton, of Deal, who reaped £10,000 during her lifetime through events such as sponsored walks.
He and his friends now also raised £1,500 to pay for a new bench but the Port of Dover provided one of its new ones at the square.
It means half the money raised will go towards helping other victims of Kelly's condition while the other half will cover expenses such as the plaque and the licence over the next 20 years.
Mr Walton told KentOnline: "I don't know where these last four years have gone. I woke this morning in tears thinking about it. But you've got to get through it and I'm glad this bench is here now."
Following Kelly's death, on November 6, 2017, money raised for her went on to the Institute of Cancer Research to help others with her condition.
This is done through the Kelly Turner Foundation and donations can be made through the page justgiving.com/fundraising/kellyturnerfoundation2017
Mr Turner summed up to KentOnline: "She died of a cancer that still has no chemotherapy or cure and that's why we need to get the funding for the research in order that more children don't die of DSRCT."
