WHEN 14-year-old Bethany Garraghty takes to the stage this week in a charity performance at King George's Hall she will have an extra reason to shine.
For the teenager will join other dancers from the Dance Factory, in Blackburn, to raise money in memory of her mum, Michelle Hilton, who died of breast cancer in 2001.
Michelle, of Beechwood Drive, Blackburn, died aged 37 and became well-known in East Lancashire after successfully campaigning through the Lancashire Evening Telegraph for the life-enhancing drug Herceptin to be made available on the NHS.
Sadly the mum-of-two died before she had the chance to take the drug herself, but she ensured that others would benefit from it.
This weekend her youngest daughter Bethany, who also lives in Blackburn, will be hoping to make her mum proud by taking part in the charity performance Danzwize 2004, organised by dance teacher Joy Wareing. Joy, who set up the Dance Factory five years ago, said: "Michelle used to bring Bethany in and I didn't know she was ill. After the first show we did that Bethany was in she wrote me a beautiful thank you letter saying she had never seen her daughter so confident and saying it was a credit to me. That meant a lot to me at the time.
"Now I know what she went through I want to give something back. I'm a year off 40 and a lot of us can be really thankful to her for campaigning, because it could happen to any one of us.
"Bethany is lovely. She's always smiling like her mum did."
The show will take place at King George's Hall on Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8, and will raise money for Breast Cancer Research.
It will feature a variety of songs and dance numbers, including Britney Spears and excerpts from Miss Saigon. For tickets, priced £6 and £7, contact the box office on 01254 582582.
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