A DEVOTED mum has launched a £100,000 fundraiser to get her daughter onto clinical trials after going through “torture” watching her suffer from cancer.

Samantha Kaya is raising money to get her 22-year-old daughter Felicia Cantone onto clinical trials in America to treat her Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that develops in the bones.

Felicia, 22, of Elizabeth Road, Southend has fought off the cancer three times before, has lost one leg and all of her hair, and has told she will never be cancer-free.

Samantha, 53, from Little Wakering, said that her daughter spends much of her time studying at university, but has been living with her more often due to the pandemic - which has shown her how much she goes through.

She said: “What’s keeping her alive is the constant rounds of chemotherapy and her overpowering will to survive.

“Her stage four cancer has now spread to her lungs and her spine.

“With all the odds stacked against her, with no hair, eyebrows or eyelashes, crumbling fingernails, no hope of ever having children, an above knee amputation, body pain and mouth ulcers from hell, my amazing and courageous daughter still manages to get out of bed every morning.

“She’ll slap on her false eyelashes, wig, acrylic nails and a full face of makeup and seize the day. People find it hard to believe she is so desperately ill.”

The fundraiser began last week and has so far raised more than £2,000.

Samantha added: “As a mother, watching your child suffer daily in such a horrific way was more than torture. The instinct to protect was overwhelming, and at the same time I was completely powerless to help her.”

“I feel like I can do something to try and get her on the trials. It’s something not as harsh as chemotherapy. If 100,000 people could give just £1, that would be amazing.”

Felicia documents her journey through treatment on Instagram. To view it, click here.

To donate, click here.