Teenager Lily Douglas, the young girl from Perth who so bravely shouldered her terminal cancer, will be celebrated in the days to come.
Lily (14) passed away on Sunday, lovingly cared for in her own home by mum Jane.
In sharing the heart-breaking news, Jane revealed that her incredibly courageous daughter had ‘danced her way to heaven’.
When Perth football club St Johnstone heard the inspirational local girl had died, management quickly arranged a gesture of respect “to honour her life”, with Saints players and fans holding a sustained round of applause for Lily in the 14th minute of the game at Wednesday’s McDiarmid Park match against Dundee.
Lily had previously performed at a half-time show with her dance troupe and loved visiting McDiarmid Park.
As the crowd made their support for Lily and her family known with a huge banner, pink balloons and pink smoke, mum Jane, from North Muirton, was in the stands surrounded by friends.
“The thoughts of everyone at St Johnstone are with Lily’s family, and we will continue to support them however we can in their time of need,” commented the club.
People from across the UK as well as Fair City folk spoke on social media of the tremendous hope Lily’s defiance and smile had brought them.
“I will always keep talking about you. You deserve to be remembered” posted heart-broken mum Jane.
“You leave a massive hole in my heart.
“If love could have saved her she would have lived to a million years old... We were a great team.”
Jane put out a call for people to send photos and video clips of Lily to Spiral Stage Lighting so a visual celebration of her life could bring together the best memories.
Jane was an all out devoted mum. She made the best of lockdown confinement with her vulnerable child, sat up hundreds of nights and put in thousands of hours of driving to get Lily the care she needed as she tried to defeat the rare childhood cancer Ewing Sarcoma which first struck her in 2017 when she was just nine.
“Jane is the strongest woman I’ve ever known” said Erin McNicol, Lily’s former dancing teacher, who became a close family friend.
Erin set up a GoFundMe appeal 18 months ago ‘Funds for Lily Douglas’ to help make life easier when Lily was ill.
This week donations poured in and yesterday the total was an incredible £15,229 pledged by the people of Perth. (https://bit.ly/3G90rA3)
More money is being raised by Erin, specifically for a celebration of the teen’s life.
Just days after opening, around £18,621 has come in to https://www.gofundme.com/f/tfp22-lilys-celebration-of-life
The fund got a £10,000 boost from an anonymous donor on Thursday. Erin described her former pupil: “Her strength and determination were impeccable, she radiated light and positivity throughout and she was so unapologetically brave.”
A third GoFundMe appeal for remembering Lily was started by Manchester’s famous actress, model and dancer Jennifer Ellison. That fund has brought in another £7000.
Jennifer explained in her ‘For Lily’ appeal: “The little girl who captured the hearts of the dance world is making her final journey to dance with the angels.
“Lets make this as easy as possible for Jane and Lily’s family.
“Lets show Lily how much she is loved.”
Visit https://bit.ly/3rRhq4I
