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Justin Bieber Inspires Teen Fan Amid Cancer Battle, Helps Music Therapy Donation Appeal

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 10:47 PST, Nov 28, 2016

Justin Bieber’s outstanding work with the Make-A-wish foundation doesn’t get much attention in the press. Media tends to prefer exaggerated stories and endless assumption-making about the pop superstar’s dating life.

Which is a shame, because away from the headlines, Justin Bieber meets with chronically sick children and teen fans in nearly every city on his “Purpose World Tour.”

In fact, the pop prince holds the record for the most “wishes” granted by a recording artist and has been a huge supporter of the foundation and the youngsters in its program since the start of his professional career back in 2009.

Amazing, right? There’s more.

After Justin met recovering cancer sufferer Evie Whittaker through Make-A-Wish after his “Purpose Tour” show in Sheffield in October, the Grammy winner and his team went on to give the 17-year-old permission to use the title track of Bieber’s latest Purpose album in a video about her life, to spread awareness and raise money for a music therapy organization.

That short video was posted on YouTube last week by Nordoff Robbins, the U.K.’s largest music therapy charity, which helps vulnerable, isolated people of all ages and also works in partnership with care homes, schools, and hospitals.

Watch “#EviesStory,” which features Bieber’s “Purpose” song in the clip below.

During the touching film, which Evie narrates, viewers are told the teen was left partially paralyzed after surgery to remove a brain tumor when she was first diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and was told it would have to be operated within days of discovery.

Heartbreakingly, the young girl also reveals that in addition to having her mobility taken away, she also suffered nerve damage to her voice and lost her ability to sing, something that had been a big part of her life.

That’s where music therapy helped. Evie regained her singing voice and overcame her fear of not liking her voice while it gradually returned in sessions with a Nordoff Robbins music therapist.

Although Evie told Justin in their meeting that she likes many stars, she singled him out as the artist that’s been the most impactful in inspiring her musically and viewed him as a source of comfort through her ongoing recovery.

In her video, the brave superfan describes the Canadian in glowing terms.

“His music inspires me and gives me courage to sing again.”

Following six months in the hospital, Evie is back at home with her mom. Her voice has returned and she is still in a wheelchair while she undergoes intensive chemotherapy. She is also doing physiotherapy and remains positive.

“I’ve still got a long way to go but music has given me purpose, a reason to keep pushing on,” Evie told her local newspaper, The Gazette.

She added, “Justin’s my world — his music has helped me through.”

During “#EviesStory,” she talks about how important music is to her and seemingly explains why she wanted the Biebs’ “Purpose” as the soundtrack to her film. The song is about overcoming despair through a personal faith in God and is an emotive high-point in Justin’s “Purpose Tour” shows.

“Music has given me purpose,” Evie says. “A reason to keep pushing myself to be the best I can be,” she added.

Footage of Evie’s hangout with Bieber was filmed by a family friend who accompanied the young girl and her mom when they met the 22-year-old backstage.

At one point, the teen tells the singer about her music therapy just before her mom asks him for permission to use his music. To which, the heartthrob — who had just come off stage — replied that he wasn’t sure how to do that as he “doesn’t directly do the approval” of his songs.

Fast forward to Evie’s film which showcases Justin’s “Purpose.” Evidently, Bieber and his team followed up on the track permission request, which would have needed the agreement of all six co-writers.

At the end of her video, Evie urges viewers to donate to Nordoff Robbins. By giving official permission to use his music in the appeal video, Bieber is part of that commendable effort.

In one of the many cute moments between the pair (scroll down to the end for the video), Bieber compliments Evie saying, “You have really nice eyebrows.”

She responded with,”You have a really nice face.”

“Justin was so calming and lovely that I just managed to chill,” she wrote in her blog, before adding that “he gave me the biggest and best hug ever, and we chatted for a while.”

After they were introduced, the two exchanged gifts. Evie showed Justin a scrapbook she has put together of pics, achievements, and messages for the singer. For his part, the Biebs gifted the teen with “Purpose Tour” merch, pics which he also signed, and other memorabilia.

Recalling her encounter to The Gazette, Evie described the singer as “gorgeous.”

In one of the many social media posts she shared after meeting Justin, she revealed what it meant to her.

“Last night was the BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE,” Evie captioned one snap of the pair on Instagram.

“The show was amazing as usual and Justin was so lovely no matter what others say about him he had a laugh with me and took the time to listen to us and promised he’d read every single page of the scrapbook I made for him, love this guy so much.”

Alongside another pic, she wrote, “When I got told my wish was going to be granted I was extremely happy & the day it actually happened was the best day of my life.”

Praising Justin, Evie continued “Meeting the guy who was there for me everyday throughout this tough time and him being the loveliest guy ever was the best, he was always there when I needed him & he really is my sunshine, love him so much.”

One caption in particular sums up why Bieber’s continuing and mostly unsung Make-A-Wish work is so important.

“1 week since Purpose Tour / best day ever,” Evie wrote.

“Wish I could relive this amazing night, Justin is the most genuine and lovely person and I love him even more (which I didn’t think could be possible lol) he made me the happiest girl ever & brought some happiness to me after all these months of unhappiness, miss this night so much…”

The young girl went into greater detail about her time with Justin at her inspiring blog. See excerpts below.

For more pictures of Evie and Justin click here and here. To read about Nordoff Robbin’s incredible work and donate to their Christmas appeal, visit this website.

[Featured Image by Evie Whittaker/Instagram]

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