The Apple & The Tree

This episode is sponsored by Cancer Research UK. In this special episode we’re in Horsham in West Sussex to meet Livi Deane and her mum, Sarah. Aged just 12, Livi was diagnosed with a rare retinoblastoma, becoming only the second person ever in the UK to have the disease that was over the age of five. Desperate not to lose her eye, Livi went through 16 rounds of chemotherapy and spent a year in remission, but that didn’t stop the cancer and her eye was removed when she was 14. She has spoken about falling into depression following her surgery and as a young teenager Livi said she felt, “very alone, always ill and a few nasty things were said about my appearance.” But she battled on, grew stronger in herself and began adjusting to life with a prosthetic eye. Livi has spoken about living with impaired vision and a prosthetic eye. She now regularly shares her experiences with children experiencing the same disease and is an ambassador for The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. Recently Livi has said, “I feel beautiful without my prosthetic eye and believe others deserve to feel beautiful too.” She’s modelled for Vogue Portugal, Apple and Primark and feels strongly about “normalising body differences.” Her goal, she insists, “is to prevent bullying and help people feel confident in their own skin.” For more information on the work Cancer Research UK is doing to beat cancer in children and young people, go to cruk.org/children-and-young-people To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories! Presenter: Vogue Williams Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Editing: Chelsey Moore Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar Jane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Tunbridge Wells in Kent we meet Jamie and his mum Jacqui. Jamie is an online fitness instructor and global body-building competitor who wanted to talk to Jacqui about his decision to revert to Islam and marry a muslim woman. From a young age Jamie had obsessive tendencies, he hated school, became a heavy drinker and even spent time in prison in Thailand. Jacqui wanted to know if he recalled his youthful mania for magic tricks, how terrified she was when she discovered his body-building drugs and how welcome she was made to feel by Jamie’s wife’s family. To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories - who knows, maybe we can meet next time! Presenter: Vogue Williams Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Editing: Tony Onu Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar June A Daily Mail Production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Waltham Abbey in Essex we meet Julie, her son Tomor and his elder sister, Leonora. Julie’s late husband Bill arrived in the UK as a refugee from the former Yugoslavia and was a kind and loving father who, over time, became gripped by a gambling addiction which ultimately caused him to take his own life in a terrifying way. Leonora, Tom and Julie have all been through counseling since his death and want to remember the good and bad times and talk about their desires for their future without him. To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories - who knows, maybe we can meet next time! Presenter: Vogue Williams Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Editing: Tony Onu Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar June A Daily Mail Production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Putney, South West London, we meet mum Patricia and her daughter Jasmine, who was adopted from China as a baby. Jasmine has always wanted to ask Patricia, who suffered the loss of her birth daughter at a very young age, about how and why she decided to pursue a transracial adoption and how she feels about the process now. Patricia, who suffers from ataxia, a disorder that affects coordination, balance and speech, wanted to ask Jasmine about how she feels as an adult - and a carer - in this blended family. To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories - who knows, maybe we can meet next time! Presenter: Vogue Williams Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Editing: Tony Onu Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar June A Daily Mail Production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Mitcham in South London we meet Ashley and his mum, Denise. Ashley is hugely proud of his mum, a woman who, for years, has worked tirelessly to help her community even through her cancer diagnosis and subsequent mastectomy. Denise split with Ashley’s dad when he was very young and Ashley wants to talk about the times he felt unsafe without a male parent in the house and explore why Denise still thinks of him as her “golden child” even now he’s in his 30’s. To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories - who knows, maybe we can meet next time! Presenter: Vogue Williams Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick Editing: Tony Onu Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar June A Daily Mail Production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices