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Cancer patients get coveted tickets to see pop star

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN [email protected] In many ways, 11-year-old Jasmine Somers is just an average pre-teen Hillary Duff fan. The girl?s voice practically vibrates with excitement as she raves about the petite blond singer?s music.
BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

In many ways, 11-year-old Jasmine Somers is just an average pre-teen Hillary Duff fan. The girl?s voice practically vibrates with excitement as she raves about the petite blond singer?s music.

Jasmine Somers, 11, received two tickets to the sold-out Hillary Duff concert, a gift from radio station Big Daddy 103.9. Three other young cancer patients also received tickets for the Jan. 18 concert.
But Jasmine has also been through a lot more than most children her age.

The Grade 6 student at St. Raphael School has been fighting retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer of the eye, since she was four years old.

Thankfully, her cancer has gone into remission, but not before she lost her eye to the disease a few years ago.

Jasmine?s memories of those painful days will be distant Jan. 18 when she watches Duff perform in person at the Sudbury Arena. She won a set of tickets that radio station Big Daddy 103.9 provided to the Northern Cancer Research Foundation (NCRF). The station donated four sets of tickets.

Tickets to the Duff concert have been virtually impossible to get since the show sold out in 45 minutes back in November.

Somers says she ?screamed and cried? when she found out she had tickets to Duff?s concert. She wants to thank Big Daddy 103.9 and NCRF for allowing her to go.

?I like her music. The words to her songs are really good,? she says. ?I?ve been saying to my friends ?I?m going to Hillary Duff,? and I can?t wait to go. I?ve been counting the days down.?

Jasmine?s dad, Dennis, loves seeing his daughter so excited, especially since her life isn?t always the easiest. The girl?s peers sometimes tease her about wearing an artificial eye and protective eyewear.

?It means a lot. She?s very, very excited. She?s a top notch Hillary Duff fan,? he says. ?I think this has given her a little bit of inspiration to say that good things still can happen.?

Big Daddy 103.9 operations manager Rick Tompkins says he decided to give the tickets to children with cancer because they and their families really need a pick-me-up.

?Hillary Duff sold out so fast that we couldn?t, in good conscience, just run another promotion giving away tickets to winners,? he says.

?When I talked to the parents on the phone, I definitely had a lump in my throat with each one.?

It was great to be able to give such a great gift to four young girls, says Jacqueline Dell, community development co-ordinator for the NCRF.

?I contacted the pediatric unit to see who we had in that age group who might enjoy the concert, and they could easily identify four patients,? she says.

?We?ve got some very excited young ladies on our hands. They?re just delighted to be going. It?s just kind of giving them a special memory.?


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