People

Update: 02 January 2008

Frances's interview went to air on 20 and 21 December 2007, and one person who heard it was Vicky Bishop.

She's lives in Wigston in Leicestershire and is the headteacher of the Hatton School in Northamptonshire.

Listen: Interview with Vicky Bishop / Frances's reaction

BBC Leicester's Julie Mayer spoke to Vicky Bishop and Frances gave her reaction to the news...

Vicky's father died when she was young and she said Frances's story struck a chord:

"I linked with her - I went through a similar experience when I was 15, it was an awful long while ago but it's still with me and will never go away.

"I thought I can help here - as a teacher I'm used to dealing with teenagers, as a headteacher I've got access to resources that my Chair of Governors is happy to provide, so I thought I can do this - this is meant for me to do."

She believes she would have benefited from support when her father died, and thinks she has the experience to help other young people with seriously ill parents.

Vicky wants to start an online chatroom as well as providing a time and place for young people to meet face-to-face as she thinks that would appeal to teenagers.

Frances says she's pleased with Vicky's ideas:

"I liked what she was saying about the online chatroom - it sounds good...

"I think it's very important for young people to communicate when they're going through this kind of thing and it sounds like it could work."

Vicky says she wants to meet up with Frances to discuss how to progress and she also wants to hear from anyone else who's interested. The email address you can contact her on is:

Frances's Story: December 2007

Frances Tatlow from Melton Mowbray is 16-years-old and attends a specialist music school in Watford.

Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, and then last year they were told she had secondaries in her spine.

Listen: Interview with Frances Tatlow

BBC Leicester's Katharine Sutton went to meet Frances - she's a harpist so one of her own performances has been used to accompany her story.

Katharine began the second part of the interview by asking Frances about a friend whose mother had recently died of cancer...

Frances says that it was a big shock to her whole family when they found out her mother had terminal cancer, but they try to carry on as normal.

She hasn't asked her mother how long she has to live as she doesn't want to put her under any more stress than she has to be.

"She's been very cheerful even when obviously the treatment gets you down a lot and makes you very tired.

"But she's been up and bright and she's still trying to be exactly the same as she was before, all the way through all the treatment and everything."

Frances says that she's managed to reach some kind of acceptance of her mother's illness now, but when she was first diagnosed it was very difficult.

She thinks a support group for young people with terminally ill parents should be set up in Leicestershire:

"My mum goes to the local cancer group, which I think she's found a great help, I think it would have been good for me to have had the chance to socialise with people of my own age who were going through the same kind of thing...

"It's definitely something I think should happen because it's very traumatising for children to go through that and I think something like that would help a lot with getting through it and coming to accept it."