A teenager who spent almost a year battling cancer has achieved her dream of going to London Fashion Week.

Avalon Ridler was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma last December while studying for her exams.

The 18-year-old from Burgess Hill finished six months of chemotherapy earlier this year and was keen to find a way of celebrating.

The diagnosis had changed Avalon's life completely as she had to give up doing all the things she loved.

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She plays the violin with Brighton Youth Orchestra and had to cancel her plans to travel with them to Prague. The teenager did manage to play in a concert at the Brighton Dome, but had to forego her place in Brighton String Ensemble as she had no energy to practise and lost her dexterity.

Avalon also danced tap until her tiredness caused her to stop lessons.

The teenager is a fan of shoes and fashion and her greatest wish was to attend a catwalk show during the popular event.

So after finishing treatment, she got in contact with Rays of Sunshine to see if they could help.

The charity grants wishes for seriously ill children and teenagers in the UK and were happy to get involved.

Avalon’s wish was funded by money raised through The Gym, which has a branch in Brighton.

The Gym selected Rays of Sunshine as their charity of the month earlier this year when members were able to donate £1 as a one-off donation when joining.

A total of £5,000 was raised to help grant wishes for people like Avalon.

Avalon travelled to London and spent a night in a hotel before being collected by car and driven to the home of London Fashion Week, Somerset House.

The fashion enthusiast enjoyed a canapé reception before being taken backstage for a makeover. She then took her seat in the front row.

As an extra treat Avalon got to take home a much sought-after show goody bag.

Avalon said: “It was the most amazing day, everything was absolutely perfect.

The wish marked a nice finish to my treatment and a fresh new start.”

Avalon is now recovering well.