A HEARTWARMING video shows the moment a woman revealed a new personalised tattoo to her best friend who is battling cancer.
Leah Smith was filmed being overwhelmed with emotion on Monday when Ellie Cashman showed off her inking of the pair making a heart shape with their hands.
Ellie, 18, had the tattoo traced from a photograph the pair took when Leah, 20, was in hospital in February.
Leah was originally diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in October 2019, an extremely rare form of cancerous tumor which grows in bones or their surrounding soft tissue.
After being cleared of the brutal illness for a year and a half, she was dealt the devastating blow that the cancer had returned and spread to her lungs.
Leah, from Liverpool, started chemotherapy again but was told that it was not working.
She is now undertaking a new form of chemotherapy but has asked her doctor not to tell her what stage the cancer is at as she is too scared to find out.
A heartwarming video shows Leah sitting outside her garden as Ellie sneaks up behind her with a bouquet of flowers.
Leah is heard gasping as she spots the black tattoo of the pairs hands together above a ribbon, a symbol of support for cancer, on the inside of Ellie’s elbow.
She then becomes overwhelmed with emotion and begins sobbing as she realises how poignant her best friend’s gesture is.
Leah shared the video to TikTok yesterday, writing: “After being diagnosed with cancer again my best friend surprised me with a tattoo.
“Our hands from a picture we took, safe to say I cried.”
The post has now collected over 1.6 million views and more than 300,000 likes.
Viewers were left emotional after watching the video.
One said: “I just finished my makeup do not even. This is the sweetest thing ever.”
Another wrote: “I’m sobbing.”
A third commented: “I’m now sobbing to myself in college.”
While one person added: “That is so lovely.”
Speaking today, Leah said: “I love how I will be a part of her forever, especially if I don’t make it.
“I first got diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in October 2019.
“It was in my pelvis and I did 14 bouts of chemo and proton beam therapy.
“I was clear for a year and a half and Ellie and I went to Scotland to celebrate.
“The same cancer came back in my lung in February of 2022 and since then I’ve been in and out of hospital with numerous complications.
“Ellie visited me at the hospital and we took the picture that inspired the tattoo.
“I was also at Ellie’s house when I received the news that the chemotherapy isn’t working this time round.
“She had been planning it for months.
“Because it was a surprise and I had no idea I was really surprised but so emotional. I love how I will be a part of her forever especially if I don’t make it.
“Since then I’m on a new type of chemo, I’m unsure of the amount of bouts. I’m just still trying to live positively and influence others.
“I’m not sure what stage my cancer is. I am too scared to ask and I tell my doctor not to tell me.”
