Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit Stuart’s page. I want to tell you about the challenge we are taking on this summer but I also want to tell you about Stuart. Who he was, what he went through, what Nicky, his wife, and my family went through and why the hospice was so important to Stuart, Nicky and the family. So if you could just take a few minutes to read the rest of this story we would be very grateful.
The Challenge!! Stuart’s Tour de Highland
Barbara Dillon, Morris Dillon (that’s me!), Johnny Croall, Tam Magowan and Scott Wilson are leaving the Highland Hospice on Sunday 12th July and cycling around the North Highlands. We aim to cover, on average, 75-80 miles per day over six days and five nights. We have overnight stops at Berriedale Braes, Reay, Kinlochbervie, Ullapool, Dornie and eventually finish at Rosemarkie beach on Friday 17th July. Stuart has a memorial bench on the beach and we plan to toast to him with anybody who wants to be there at the end of the challenge as well as getting a well earned, comfortable, seat!! I want to point out that at this time, none of us would yet consider ourselves seasoned cyclists apart from my mum, Babs!! At 67 years of age Babs is eager to show the young guns up and I wouldn’t bet against her! We are all currently in training and hopefully the backsides are getting acclimatised to spending hours in the saddle.
I want to thank our main sponsor, Ali Davidson of Focus Vehicle Rentals, who is sponsoring our tour tops and a support vehicle.
Also 'Go Outdoors' who have donated all our energy drinks and gels.
Asda Inverness who have provided us with food and drink to keep us fueled up over the tour.
'Fuel your 10k hours' who have provided us with high energy breakfast drinks and porridge pots for every morning.
'So Coco' chocolate cafe in Inverness for providing us with some awesome chocolate to make life on tour that little bit more luxurious!
We want to thank you all. Your help and generosity is very much appreciated.
If there are any other people, companies, groups who would like to sponsor us in terms of equipment needed, food/drink for the week etc, please get in contact with me on facebook.
Can I ask everybody to visit the facebook page and ‘like’ it? Here you can follow our progress and might get an insight into some of our high performance training methods and preparation techniques!! Just search for ‘Stuart’s Tour de Highlands’. Also if any of our friends out there would like to join us for any of the days on the tour please get in touch. We are staying in village halls along the way so there is always room for some happy and motivated team members - just make sure you and your bum can cycle 80 miles at a very steady pace!
About Stuart Dillon
Stuart was born on the 13th May 1974 and died on the 10th March 2005 aged 30. He attended Cullicudden Primary and Fortrose Academy and studied at Moray House, in Edinburgh, to be a PE teacher. Along the way Stuart played a lot of sport, watched a lot sport and generally loved sport! He was a great athlete and was capped several times at junior level for the sprint hurdles. His greatest achievement was winning a bronze medal at the British Schools Championships in 1990.
Stuart returned North after University and eventually returned to teach at his beloved Fortrose Academy. However in January of 2003 he was diagnosed with a malignant Brain tumour. To say that Nicky and the family were absolutely devastated would be an understatement. But for those of you who knew Stuart you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he was probably the calmest out of all of us. He was confident that with the correct treatment and a positive attitude he could beat cancer. That was one of the great things about Stuart. He was big guy, with a big personality and was always willing to help people out and believe in them. The tables were turned and Stuart had to believe in himself, the medical profession and remain positive throughout that he could beat cancer! After major brain surgery and an extensive program of radiotherapy he did exactly that and was able to get married to Nicky in July of that year whilst being in remission.
Stuart was able to steadily return to PE teaching but devastatingly in October 2004 the cancer returned. This time it was incredibly aggressive and spread very quickly. Naturally we all felt that he could beat it again as did Stuart. However, it began to take it’s toll and I will never forget that day in the family room at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary when the doctor informed myself and my mum that Stuart was terminal and only had a matter of weeks to live. I remember telling Nicky and the rest of the family at Stuart’s bedside but the big man was too ill to know what was happening. It was surreal and like we were in a dream! We wanted Stuart to come home, we were all in agreement that’s where he should spend his last days and weeks. However, when we eventually managed to get Stuart back home we very quickly had to accept the realisation that we were not able to offer him the immediate pain relief and comfort that he required - it was incredibly tough to come to terms with.
This is where the Highland Hospice was able to help Stuart, Nicky and our family. They offered him a bed and unusually he was in the hospice for six weeks before passing away. However, the nurses, doctors, staff and volunteers at the hospice are literally angels. We will never forget how they managed to allow Stuart to live out his final days with dignity and as pain free as possible. The care and support they offered to Stuart and to us was super human. They instantly understood what everybody was going through and knew that visiting hours didn’t apply and that there was no such thing as too many visitors in his room. It was this kind of support that allowed Stuart to keep his dignity and have his family close in his final days. It was this kind of support that allowed Nicky and the family to stay strong. Not only were the hospice there to support us when Stuart had a room, they have also been supporting us in numerous ways long after he has passed away.
In those days, over 10 years ago, it cost £4000 a week to care for Stuart! Considering how expensive life is now and how the hospice is only one third funded by the NHS they have a huge amount of money to raise every year in order to continue to provide the amazing care and support that they do. 1 in 3 of us will have their lives touched in some way by the hospice, 1 in 3!! There are families who have been through, are going through and will go through the same as us. That’s why it is incredibly important to raise as much money for the Highland Hospice so they can continue to offer support to these families.
Please give what you can - every sponsorship big or small will be truly appreciated by us.
Thank you all so much for your time.
Regards
Morris Dillon – Stuart’s little brother.
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