Beyoncé reunited with Chelsea in emotional back-stage meet and greet
November 2013
On Thursday 31st of October, Newcastle's Chelsea James (15) who is living with cancer, was reunited with her idol Beyoncé in a special backstage meet and greet in Sydney.
The last time she toured in Sydney in 2009, Beyoncé performed a special version of Halo to Chelsea, 11 at the time, on stage. The lyrics were changed to "Chelsea I can see your halo, I pray you won't fade away." Footage of this magical moment was captured and went global after it gained a million hits on YouTube and was shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The next day, Beyoncé called Chelsea to tell her how special she was.
At the time, Chelsea had a 1% chance of survival because of a rare form of cancer - a primitive neural ectodermal tumour. Today Chelsea is 15 and in palliative care. Chelsea recently relapsed for the 14th time so her family take each day at a time. This time around, Beyoncé dedicated the song Survivor to Chelsea, shouting "Yeah, Chelsea!" immediately after the first chorus and pointing at Chelsea in the crowd.
At the meet and greet just before Beyoncé went on stage, Chelsea flew into Beyoncé's arms and they hugged out an emotional reunion between old friends. Beyoncé said, "You have no idea what this means to me, I've thought about you so much since we last me. I can't tell you how good it is to see you again."
Chelsea asked if she could see Beyoncé again next time she tours Australia to which Beyoncé replied, "I want to see you every single time I'm in Australia, Chelsea - not just the next time!"
Also attending the concert and backstage meeting with Chelsea were Bronte (12) and Andrea (9). Bronte and Chelsea met at a Camp Quality camp after Bronte was diagnosed with leukaemia on her third birthday. Andrea was newly diagnosed with leukaemia in June this year and is supported by Camp Quality through our Hospital Programs.
Beyoncé gave each of these girls a hug and told them "You are absolutely beautiful." Camp Quality completely agrees with Beyoncé and was delighted to be able to help set up this meeting.
Following their exciting meet and greet with Beyonce last Thursday night, Michelle (Bronte's mum) sent through this lovely thank you message that we just had to share.
Thank you to Bronte and Michelle for their kind words, Camp Quality are so thrilled to have helped organise something special for them and delighted they had a fantastic time. You both deserve it!
"Bronte and I are still buzzing from the amazing experience of meeting Beyonce and going to her incredible concert. How amazingly special we feel for having the opportunity to meet one of the BEST and most FAMOUS performers in the world today!!
Thank you so very much to Beyonce and her public relations team for giving us this absolutely awesome experience. We will cherish this evening forever!
Bronte and I would also like to say an especially big THANK YOU to Camp Quality for making this experience possible. Bronte and Chelsea first met at the John Hunter Children's hospital during their cancer treatment. The girls went on to join Camp Quality and go to camps together where they were able to put their treatment times aside and have fun! I would have to say that Bronte LOVES camp. Bronte has been going to camp since she was 4 years old and has had the same wonderful volunteer companion ever since. This experience has meant so much to us. Camp Quality has provided us with so much support in a fun, optimistic environment. There have been times when it was difficult to face the day let alone think what tomorrow would bring. Organisations like Camp Quality make such a difference to the lives of children and their families living with cancer. A big heartfelt THANK YOU to Camp Quality, the wonderful staff and amazing volunteers and the generosity of people who donate their time and money to this organisation!
Bronte and I are so very lucky to be putting our treatment days behind us and experiencing life outside of the hospital, without the support of our family and friends and organisations such as Camp Quality, this would not have been possible. Bronte loves to sing and dreams of being a musical theatre star one day which is why meeting Beyonce was so incredibly wonderful for her. Bronte and I would also like to say a special thank you to her singing teacher, David Geise of Vocal Evolution and our Vocal Evolution family who has given Bronte the confidence to pursue her dreams. THANK YOU.
Lots of Love, Michelle and Bronte Horswood.