Amanda Thompson is a pianist and cancer survivor, who had a top 20 hit single in 1993 with opera singer Lesley Garrett.
In January 1993, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, and raised money for cancer charities by playing her keyboard in shopping centres.
The Esther Rantzen television programme Hearts of Gold found out about Thompson, and invited her to a television studio, where she performed "Ave Maria" with opera singer Lesley Garratt; Thompson was under the impression that this was a rehearsal for Garrett, but the recording was turned into a CD single.
[1] The single was duly released in October, with proceeds going to the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children, and became a hit.
In the next couple of years, Thompson underwent a pioneering treatment - bone marrow autograph - which resulted in an improvement in her health in time for her to take her A-levels.