Cancer girl is banned from bar

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Monday 26th Jul 2004.

Staff at a Swindon town centre bar refused entry to a leukaemia sufferer ­ because she was wearing a baseball cap.

Nineteen-year-old Gemma Lambeth wears the cap in public because she has lost most of her hair through chemotherapy.

Although she explained the situation to door staff at the Walkabout bar in Fleet Street, they still refused to let her enter, saying baseball caps were banned.

The teenager ­ whose courageous three year battle against cancer has featured in the Evening Advertiser ­ was distraught by the incident, and went home in floods of tears.

She said: "I just couldn't believe how insensitive they were.

"It took me a lot of courage to go into town in the first place.

"I wear the cap because I look abnormal and people stare. I feel very uncomfortable without it."

The incident was particularly distressing for Gemma as it was the first time she had been out with friends since undergoing a bone marrow transplant in April.

She was in high spirits at the start of the evening because a test the day before had shown that the treatment was working.

Gemma had also been looking forward to catching up with a friend, Emma Cox, 21, who is normally away at university.

Earlier in the evening, door staff at the Casbah in John Street had asked for the cap to be removed.

But when Gemma explained about her condition, they apologised and let her enter.

The evening's fun was shattered, however, when the girls decided to visit the Walkabout Australian theme bar. "The door staff asked me to take my cap off, and once again I explained why I needed to wear it," said Gemma, of Tattershall, Toothill.

"One of them turned to a more senior member of staff and asked what to do. He said `you have got to take it off, or leave now because caps aren't part of the dress code.'"

There is a sign saying No Head Gear by the door, but Gemma said they should have made an exception.

Her mother Jackie, 41, is furious.

"The whole experience was extremely upsetting and humiliating for Gemma," she said.

"It took great courage for her to go out and try and rebuild her social life. I just can't believe the insensitivity of these people.

"I just hope they never have to encounter the devastation that cancer treatment involves."

The Advertiser contacted the Walkabout for an explanation of the incident on Thursday night.

We spoke to an assistant manager, but he refused to comment or give his name.

Gemma was diagnosed as suffering from lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2001. But a course of treatment sent the cancer into remission.

However, in December last year, the cancer returned and doctors told Gemma that a bone marrow transplant was her last hope.

So far, the transplant appears to have been successful.

But the treatment came with a downside.

The high doses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy needed to prepare Gemma for the operation left her infertile. However, her friends and family have raised £11,000 to pay for her to undergo IVF treatment in the future.

Tamash Lal

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