Teen battling cancer releases hit song about her fight for survival
A brave Queensland singer battling cancer has broken into the iTunes Charts and credits two of the world's biggest pop stars with helping her get there.
Chelsea Stutchbury’s single was inspired by her final round of chemotherapy.
The brave 18-year-old has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and during her last round of chemotherapy, she penned her debut single, Vincristine.
Vincristine was named after the drug that saved her life but ultimately weakened her voice.
“I lost a lot of strength then made it quite shaky and I couldn't sing as well as I used to."
When Stutchbury met and told superstar Taylor Swift she was a singer, Swift gave her a hug and some simple words of advice.
"She just said to keep doing what I'm doing and was very encouraging," Chelsea said.
Now, only two weeks after the song’s release, Vincristine has made it into the top 100 on the Australian iTunes Chart.
Chelsea's donating all profits from the song towards cancer research.
"Without research I wouldn't be here so it's very close to my heart and they do such amazing work that saves lives so it's a good cause,” she said.
Chelsea also credits the support from a great team of doctors who have helped her along the way.
"There's, um, quite a few doctors who have all saved my life in a different way,” she lamented.
Chelsea’s mother, Judi recalls that the journey has been an emotional roller coaster for the whole family.
"We went from one extreme to the other, really. She started off so very sick and we didn't know what was wrong."
Since her diagnosis Stutchbury has had the opportunity to meet some other big names in the music industry including Katy Perry, Delta Goodrem, and Kirk Pengilly from INXS.
News break – February 20
