'There was a chance I would never speak again, never mind sing': Opera singer who battled throat cancer achieves her dream of performing at the Proms

Lydia Haynes (left), from St Albans, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in November 2011 after noticing a golf ball-sized lump in her throat. 


Doctors initially dismissed the aspiring 16-year-old singer's concerns as swollen glands - but a biopsy test two months after revealed the shock diagnosis. Treatment left her dreams of becoming a professional singer in tatters as she was unable to speak properly for weeks. However, doctors told her there was a chance she would never talk again. She had an operation (inset) to remove the tumour in her throat but it was only partly successful. Another operation and further therapy killed the cancer cells and she has been in remission for four years. But now 21, she has become an opera singer (right) and even sang at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall last week.