The brave little girl battling kidney cancer whose rendition of Fight Song was heard around the world
Anya Ottley, six, performed the song at a family wedding - and it's racked up one million views on YouTube
Alex Matthews
A courageous little girl who's battling cancer has been filmed performing 'Fight Song' - and the footage has racked up one million views on YouTube.
Anya Ottley, six, took the stage at a family friend's wedding, belting out Rachel Platten's 2014 hit song.
Anya sang the poignant lyrics at a time she is undergoing 28 gruelling rounds of intensive chemotherapy at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital .
The youngster was diagnosed with kidney cancer in November 2017.
The Little Mix fan is due to finish her treatment for Wilms' tumour - a renal cancer in children - next month and will have a 'ring-the-bell' party to mark the occasion.
There she plans to sing the hit, which includes the lyrics 'this is my fight song, take back my life song, prove I'm alright song', and decided to practise at the wedding reception on May 26, delighting proud parents Kathryn and Andy, 50.
Mum-of-one Kathryn, from Bolton , said: "Anya is such an incredibly brave and beautiful little girl.
Anya Ottley, six, took the stage at a family friend's wedding, belting out the hit song
"Her performance at the wedding brought a tear to my eye and to several others in the room. It was fantastic to watch her and it made me so proud.
"She adores singing and she just wants to entertain all the time. She's a huge Little Mix fan and dreams of meeting them one day.
"When she started her treatment I promised her a ring-the-bell party when she gets better and told her she could sing at it.
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"Anya asked me what the song should be and we thought about 'Fight Song', which fits really well. She wanted to sing at the wedding and I told her it would be a good time to practise it for her party.
"Her uncle Aidan posted it online afterwards and the reaction it has had is incredible. I've had people messaging me from the USA and Australia.
"Anya makes YouTube videos and gets excited when she tells me she's had 19 views, so to tell her one of her videos has more than one million views, she didn't really know what to say."
Anya Ottley's version of her singing Fight Song has gone viral (Image: Mercury Press)
School office worker Kathryn, 43, first noticed something was wrong when usually energetic Anya became extremely tired after a party last November and her mechanic dad Andy noticed a lump on her tummy as she lay on the sofa.
Blood tests and an MRI at Royal Bolton Hospital confirmed she had a giant cancerous tumour in her stomach measuring 14.5cm by 9cm by 7cm – around the size of a small melon.
She was referred to Manchester Children's Hospital, which confirmed a diagnosis of Wilms' tumour on November 17, and she started chemotherapy that day.
The tot also underwent surgery on the tumour and had her left kidney removed.
Anya Ottley, aged six, with her mum Kathryn Ottley and dad Andy Ottley (Image: Mercury Press)
The treatment was initially successful, shrinking the tumour to half its size, but since January 27 Anya has been having chemotherapy every Monday to try and kill off the tumour completely.
Kathryn said: "Until Anya was very tired and I saw that lump in her tummy there were no symptoms at all.
"You couldn't see it when she stood up, it was only clear when she lay down. We didn't even see it on holiday in the October half-term holiday, despite how big it was.
"It was about the size of a small melon.
"I'm so glad we caught it when we did otherwise we might be telling a very different story right now, I dare not think about it really.
Anya Ottley (Image: Mercury Press)
"I tried to stay really calm for her when she was admitted to Manchester because I didn't want her to see me get upset.
"She knew something was wrong and she did ask me if she was going to die, which was heart breaking, but I told her she wouldn't and she's been so incredibly brave and strong.
"She even takes the chemotherapy in her stride. It makes her sick but she tells me it's not too bad for her and that other children on the ward are much sicker.
"She is really caring like that."
Kathryn says Anya's diagnosis and treatment hit the family especially hard, they lost Kathryn's sister Rachel at the age of 42 to sepsis four years ago.
Kathryn said: "It's been really tough. My sister introduced me to Andy and named Anya as well.
Anya Ottley, aged six, is a huge Little Mix fan (Image: Mercury Press)
"She was unwell over Christmas, just like Anya was, and we took her into hospital and she died on January 5. The possibility of losing Anya as well was almost too much to bear. But her treatment is set to finish on July 9 and she will ring that bell and enjoy her party."
For now Anya continues to do her schoolwork at home as her low immune system makes it difficult for her to be in the classroom.
She also refuses to wear a wig given to her by the Little Princess Trust, despite having had her own hair cut and donated to make a wig, as she prefers not to hide her cancer.
Her family are raising money for the Little Princess Trust and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and have so far raised nearly £20,000.
Their JustGiving page can be found at https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/anyagrace