JLS visit a ray of sunshine for Kincraig cancer sufferer
CHART-TOPPERS JLS had a special message for a very special Kincraig lady this week, having returned south after a hugely successful Scottish visit.
Having met Alvie Primary Scool pupil Megan Swan at their recent Highland gig, singer JB Gill told the Strathy: “It was our privilege to meet Megan. We wish her all the best and hope she enjoyed the show as much as we did.
“We loved appearing up here – the crowd were amazing!”
JB is a special ambassador for the London charity Rays of Sunshine, which recently organised a magical London trip for Megan and her family, and on Monday afternoon he explained why he had chosen to represent the charity: “Rays of Sunshine grant magical wishes for amazing children every day and we are proud to support them. “
But in fact, it was nearly the “ex-factor” for Megan’s sister Gillian after telling JB that she loved him at the special backstage hugging session.
“All the boys were adorable,” said Mrs Swan, “and when Megan heard me talking to JB she said she was going to ‘tell Dad’ when we got home!”
But by the time the Swan girls and their Laggan pal Zoe Maclean had got back to Kincraig, seven-year-old Megan was in far too good a mood to let on. The extra special trip to the pop idols’ Highland gig, which had included meeting the boys both before and after the show, had been “fantastic!” and it was a case of “Everybody in Love”.
“It was amazing enough that they should have picked Dingwall as the only Scottish venue other than Edinburgh to perform,” said Mrs Swan, “but the fact that we had such special tickets made the whole thing utterly amazing. They were so natural, and so good with the girls. They signed autographs and handed out T-shirts and seemed to have all the time in the world to talk with us. It was wonderful.”
The girls had first fallen in love with the chart-topping boy band through Mrs Swan’s elder daughter, Kingussie High School pupil Camryn (12): “I had gone to London with the Guides and we’d seen their show. I thought they were brilliant and I’ve followed them ever since.”
When her friend Megan was bravely battling leukaemia in Raigmore Hospital, her CLIC Sargent nurse, Fiona Reid, soon realized what a fan the girls were of the great band, and two years on, when offered special guest tickets, she thought to pass them on to the sisters and two other guests.
Fiona and her fellow CLIC Sargent nurses work on paediatric oncology wards, children’s wards and teenage and young adult units at hospitals across the UK, providing a high level of clinical care, support and experience to children and young people with cancer, and their families. The nurses have the same training as NHS nurses, and can be employed by the NHS, providing care and support to children and young people with cancer both in hospital and in the community.
“Fiona was absolutely marvellous” said Megan’s mum. “It’s such a specialised kind of care, and it was lovely of her to think of us when she received the tickets. I was especially grateful because I’m just as big a fan of the boys as my daughters. Honestly!”
JLS – an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing – shot to fame when they just lost out to Alexandra Burke on the ITV reality talent show The X Factor in 2008.
But Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, Oritsé Williams and JB Gill were quickly to reach the heights after signing with Epic Records. They have enjoyed continued chart success – their first two singles “Beat Again” and “Everybody in Love” both went to number one on the UK Singles Chart.
The band’s self-titled debut album was released in November 2009 and has since sold over a million copies in the UK. While dominating the pop charts the band have gone on to win many of the major awards – including British Breakthrough and British Single (“Beat Again”) – at the Brits and Mobo’s.
Last year they hit America with “Everybody in Love” as their debut US single.
Their hit “Love You More”, the official 2010 Children In Need single, was their fourth number-one on the UK Singles Chart.
Individually, the band have also become patrons for different charities, namely Beatbullying (Aston), Childline (Marvin) and the National MS Society (Oritse).
JB gives much of his time to Rays of Sunshine, which made little Megan’s other dreams come true in April: they arranged a spectacular trip to the capital for the Kincraig family, with Mum, Camryn and dad Stuart enjoying a slap-up weekend. The Swans luxuriated on chauffeur-driven tours, stayed in five-star splendour and took in two shows – and of course, they went backstage there as well, meeting the stars of “Dancing on Ice” in the process!
