West Bromwich aspiring actress honoured by cancer charity

Crystal Marshall said she felt "humbled and grateful" to win an award

An aspiring actress who was diagnosed with a rare facial cancer has been praised for encouraging others with the disease struggling with changes to their appearance.

Crystal Marshall, from West Bromwich, was 18 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

Chemotherapy and operations on a tumour left her with changes to the right side of her face and low self-esteem.

She said it had taken "three or four years until I loved myself again".

"I was and am an actor and thought, why did I have to have the worst kind of cancer on my face... it's what directors see isn't it?"

Today she is forging ahead with her dreams of becoming an actress and in the autumn is due to take up a place at drama school.

'Inspirational people'

Just an hour before hearing news about her place at drama college she was receiving a Teenage Cancer Trust award from Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.

The awards were set up by the charity to "exemplify inspirational people" .

"It was the best day ever," Crystal said. "I was over the moon."

She had appeared in the Teenage Cancer Trust's Still Me body image campaign, inspiring other young people struggling with changes to their appearance caused by cancer.

More recently she set up an Instagram live stream called Positive Hour with Crystal and Friends to encourage others during the coronavirus lockdown.

She said she understood what others may be feeling and the battles they could be facing.

To overcome her own "fears and self-hatred", when she was diagnosed, she said she tried meditation and mindfulness as well as using a life coach to rebuild her confidence.

Julie Gonzalez at Birmingham Children's Hospital is another award winner

"I would write lists about what I was grateful for and good at and what makes me happy," she said.

She also paid tribute to her mother, a huge inspiration and her "constant cheerleader".

'Follow your dream'

Eventually Crystal said she stopped hiding her face behind her hair.

"It should not matter how a person looks on the outside... you should and can still follow your dream," she said.

She hopes to follow her own dream and start at drama college in October.

She has set up a fundraising page as she needs to raise £25,000 for tuition, accommodation and travel as she will also need to keep going to hospital in London for check-ups.

Other Teenage Cancer Trust award recipients from the West Midlands include the charity's Youth Support Coordinator Julie Gonzalez, based at Birmingham Children's Hospital and nurse Nicky Pettitt, who supports young people at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Nurse Nicky Pettitt dedicated her award to her NHS colleagues and the difference they make to "the young people currently in our care"