A BRAIN tumour fighter, who was told she would not be able to make it to watch Taylor Swift in concert, was able to get to the last Liverpool show thanks to help from the hospitals fighting to prolong her life.
Laura Mahon, 31, from Lea Green, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour in September 2021 when she was 27 weeks pregnant.
Doctors originally believed the baby was pressing on a nerve, but she was sent to The Walton Centre for an MRI scan, which led to the discovery of the tumour.
She and her husband Danny opted to bring their daughter Sienna into the world at 30 weeks.
Since then Laura has undergone surgery, radiotherapy and back-to-back courses of chemotherapy and alternative treatments to try to keep the tumour from progressing any further.
One of the things keeping Laura going is setting goals, most of which are surrounding Sienna and family - but one, just for Laura, was that she wanted to see Taylor Swift in concert.
She booked the tickets when they were released last July, knowing full well that the June dates were long past her 'prognosis' date. But the Taylor Swift date was one she kept working towards.
However, the Saturday before the show on June 13, her husband Danny updated her social media pages to say that due to undergoing several seizures they were in hospital and Laura wouldn't make the Taylor Swift show.
Heartbroken, Laura tried her best to recover. But Danny and Walton Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital worked their magic by explaining the situation to somehow swap their tickets to wheelchair-accessible tickets for the final show on Saturday.
Laura said: "It was amazing, I've worked towards this goal and I was gutted when we were told I couldn't go. I didn't think I'd get there."
Danny added: "Laura's health is our number one focus but due to what's happened Laura's been through so much, I knew how important it was to her that she's here to see it so lets get her there.
"Thursday was not going to happen but then the Walton staff said they would partially discharge her and speak to others to see what they could do, they had a bed on standby and everything and somehow we just made it happen.
"Once we got there a person with a flag guided us to the wheelchair access, the crowd parted and we got there, I was terrified as I knew so much could go wrong but Laura was made up and I know how much she's been going on about this."
Laura added: "I wasn't sure I'd get there but it was incredible, I had an amazing time with Danny and I'm just so grateful, I just need to recover now and keep fighting."
Since Laura's latest admittance to hospital she is on three different epilepsy medications and due to her tumour sitting on the motor cortex, which controls her right side, she cannot currently walk unaided or use her right hand or arm.
Danny explained that Laura has a lot of anxiety due to this, but setting goals helps her through.
Laura initially auctioned off her original Taylor tickets in aid of Clatterbridge, after being given accessible tickets for the Thursday show.
The fundraiser for the hospital raised more than £6,200 for the cancer hospital.
Laura (and Danny) document her journey via her Instagram page @lauradowntherabbithole
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