Voice of an angel! Six-year-old girl who survived a brain tumour releases Merry Christmas Everyone as a charity single and delights GMB viewers with her ‘adorable’ rendition live on air
- Lyra Cole,7, had emergency surgery at five months old to remove brain tumour
- Last year sang When A Child is Born to raise money for Brain Tumour Research
- Has released a new cover of another festive favourite and performed on GMB
A seven-year-old girl who survived having a brain tumour removed as a baby melted hearts with her rendition of Merry Christmas Everyone on live TV.
Lyra Cole, from Somerset, last year beat Stormzy in the official download charts with her cover of Christmas classic When A Child is Born, with all proceeds donated to Brain Tumour Research.
The schoolgirl, who had emergency surgery at five months old to remove a tumour the ‘size of an orange’, has now released a second charity single – a cover of Shakin’ Stevens’ festive classic – and hopes to bag a chart top spot once again.
She appeared on Good Morning Britain today to perform the Christmas song, with viewers quickly taking to Twitter to praise the ‘adorable’ little girl.
Lyra Cole, from Somerset, pictured with dad Dan on Good Morning Britain, melted hearts with her rendition of Merry Christmas Everyone today
Lyra, pictured as a baby, had emergency surgery at five months old to remove a tumour the ‘size of an orange’
When asked why she’s keen to raise money, Lyra said: ‘It’s because I had a brain tumour when I was a baby and I want to save people who have brain tumours.’
Lyra appeared with her father Dan, who called his daughter ‘amazing’ and says her festive singles have done better than they could have ‘ever imagined’.
‘Definitely, she’s doing amazing and both songs have done better than we could ever imagine and it’s raised a lot of money and a lot of awareness so she’s done really well,’ he said.
‘What we went through when she was younger, we went through a really hard time. It’s a brilliant charity doing great work, it just needs a bit more funding.’
She appeared on the ITV show today to perform the Christmas song, with viewers quickly taking to Twitter to praise the ‘adorable’ little girl
Viewers soon praised the young singer, with one writing: ‘Awww @GMB well done Lyra! Such a beautiful little voice!’
‘Aww bless her!’, wrote another.
A third commented: ‘Aww Merry Christmas Lyra’.
Lyra’s mother, Ellie, has said her daughter’s tumour, which was a low grade choroid plexus papilloma, had grown to the size of an orange before it was removed in an 11 hour operation.
The tumour was a type most commonly discovered in children, often before they reach their first birthday.
Last year Lyra beat Stormzy in the official download charts with her cover of Christmas classic When A Child is Born, with all proceeds donated to Brain Tumour Research
Lyra (right), pictured with with her father Dan, mother Ellie, and brother Charlie, hops to raise as much money as possible for Brain Tumour Research
It had initially been misdiagnosed as a virus and her symptoms included vomiting and loss of appetite.
Within months Lyra was struggling to see and underwent a second procedure a year later which restored her sight.
Lyra is now healthy and has been singing, acting and performing for the last three years with a local drama group.
‘She has annual scans and check ups to make sure everything is okay, said father Dan, ‘But now she’s perfect.’
‘For everyone it’s not been the best [year], so to have this to concentrate on has been great, looking forward to Christmas has been a help, it’s been good.’