A video starring Ivy Brown, the six-year-old daughter of Preston cancer fighter Roisín Pelan, is spreading the word on the importance of checking for changes in the body.

In the emotional short film posted to Instagram, Ivy talks about growing up as her Mum has been undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy and operations.

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The video has been viewed almost 200,000 times on Roisín’s Cancer Fighting Pants Are On page, and has been shared by celebrities including comedian John Bishop.

As the video starts, Ivy says: “My Name is Ivy Brown and my Mummy had breast cancer while I was in her tummy… She said when I was born she looked at my face and the sunlight came into the room, and made her feel ready to kick cancer’s butt.”

Ivy explains how, when she was three, Roisín’s cancer came back.

She says the family subsequently battled to adopt her little brother, with footage in the video showing the magical moment Ivy was introduced to her new sibling.

Ivy says she wants more people to speak about cancer, so it doesn’t feel as scary, and shares her hopes for the future, saying: “One day I hope there will be a little jab that everyone can have so there will be no more cancer in the world.”

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Ivy also says she wishes her “brave and brilliant and amazing” Mum didn’t have to have so much treatment, because she misses her when she’s in hospital.

Doing her bit to help others, Ivy goes on to sing a song that she and Roisín made up so that “people can teach other to check for naughty lumps and changes in their body”.

The song goes:

Put your hands up in the air
Wave them around like you just don’t care
Check for lumps upon your chest
Under your arms and in your neck
Now give yourself a great big smile
Checks are done for a little while

Proud mum Roisín calls the ditty ‘the booby song’.

She said: “We always sing the booby song when we’re getting changed, and we thought it would be good to share it with the world.

“It has been unbelievably lovely to see people like Giovanna Fletcher and John Bishop sharing the video. Ivy isn’t really fussed, she takes it all in her stride!

“I’ve had lots of messages from others saying they’ve taught the song to their children too, which is just amazing.”

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Roisín said the family, who live in Lea, has had to ‘normalise’ cancer to ensure Ivy wasn’t scared by the situation.

“I’ve never wanted Ivy to make her own assumptions and frighten herself, so we’ve just always talked about it.

“Plus she was a baby when I was diagnosed; it’d be really hard to start whispering about something as she grew so it just happened.

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“I am so incredibly proud of Ivy. She has the biggest heart on earth and she handles things so beautifully. She’s my little dream girl.”

Watch’s Ivy’s video on Instagram.

Proud Preston. This, and many stories like it, show how the people of Preston are making a difference. Our Proud Preston section showcases all the charitable, kind, uplifting and great things about our city and the people who live here. #ProudPreston is alive and well, and there’s much to celebrate and be proud of, despite the challenging times we all face.

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What do you think of Ivy’s video? Let us know in the comments.