Artists support young Sunderland musician with rare brain tumour

22 November 2022, 14:28 | Updated: 22 November 2022, 14:33

The likes of Eurythmics and Tom A. Smith have lent their support and voices to Faye Fantarrow, who has been diagnosed with a life threatening, extremely rare brain tumour.

Eurythmics are among artists to support a young singer-songwriter suffering with a rare brain tumour.

Faye Fantarrow, who hails from Sunderland, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive tumour this September after battling leukaemia twice as as child.

The 20 year old was working with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart in the studio when she began to feel unwell and the Sweet Dreams star went on to donate £50,000 to Fantarrow's JustGiving page, with Lennox also giving generously.

At the time of writing this article, the fundraising page - which was set up to help raise funds towards Faye's treatment in California costing over £450,000 - has currently reached £119,972.

You can visit Faye's JustGiving page here if you wish to donate to her fundraiser.

Meanwhile special fundraising gigs have been organised to help Faye reach her target and raise awareness for her harrowing situation.

On Saturday 26th November, local artists such as Tom A. Smith and The Lake Poets will perform at a special #FightForFaye gig at Pop Recs.

Next month will see The Futureheads, The Lake Poets and special guests hold a fundraiser at the Fire Station in Sunderland on 2nd December, with tickets on sale for just £25.

Speaking to the BBC about her her situation, the Alan Hull award winner said: "Everything was going fine and dandy, and then my body decided to throw the curveball of a glioma brain tumour into the mix just to spice things up a bit… it's not my first rodeo, so to speak. 

"I was initially diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when I was eight years old. As a child, looking back and you're quite naive, I didn't realise the severity of the situation... I sort of miss it a bit.

“I thought I was cured of it, but then I was re-diagnosed when I was 12 and then got through a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy which was quite harrowing, but again I got through it. I never thought I'd be here again, third time around."

"This time it's a rare one, a bit strange and doctors aren't sure where it came from, 'cos it came quickly which is why I'm having to go for this CAR-T cell treatment in California because it's a rare tumour," she said.

Going on to praise the support she had from her Eurythmics mentor, she added: "It would never have been an option without Dave Stewart because he said he would put money towards it and help fundraise, so we could tell my consultant there would be funding straight away.

Faye Fantarrow Strobe Lights

You can visit Faye's JustGiving page here if you wish to donate to her fundraiser.