Story
Living Fully, Giving Freely – Stef’s Journey
Dear friends, family, colleagues and kind-hearted souls,
Life has a way of changing in an instant. For me, it started with subtle signs – a strange unsteadiness while walking during the Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas in October 2024. Shortly afterward, while mountain climbing in Utah, then Vancouver, the sense that something was wrong became impossible to ignore. And then my medical critical illness journey began. By February, after what seemed like countless neurology appointments, blood tests, MRI and PET-CT scans showing multiple brain and spinal lesions, I received the first diagnosis: Tumefactive Multiple Sclerosis. That alone was life-altering. Forward wind a few months, after even more tests and eventually brain surgery in May, I was given a second diagnosis: high-grade glioma – an aggressive, stage 4 terminal brain cancer, with a prognosis of 12 to 18 months.
It’s devastating news - but even in the middle of it, I’ve found something unexpected: beauty, love, and a deep, almost startling clarity. Quite the journey, this one.
In the past months, I’ve had the heartbreaking task of sharing this news with my daughters, best friends and family. It has been incredibly difficult – and yet, strangely beautiful. We’ve shared raw, honest conversations, laughter through tears, tight hugs, and moments of real connection.
Someone recently asked me: “what is your illness teaching you?”
It gave me cause to pause and reflect. I think I’m beginning to make sense of it all. If there is a hidden gift in this critical illness, it’s the invitation to stop, to look closely, and to ask what it truly means to live a good, full and meaningful life. Here’s what I’ve learned:
• Live life with your powerful, magnetic heart more fully open. Heart over brain.
• Tell people you love/believe in/value them more often.
• Try to get out of that electric super-computer brain mode a bit each and every day.
• Crush that ghastly ego and all its swirl.
• Be a good person.
• Bring a sense of fun and adventure to absolutely everything you do.
• Achieve incredible outcomes with elevated emotions for all parties (customers, colleagues, and friends)
Why This Page Exists
After my initial diagnosis, things changed fast. Within weeks, I went from climbing mountains and diving oceans to struggling to walk across a room without falling. I rapidly declined towards being dangerously immobile, with injuries to the head and body becoming a weekly occurrence. This has dramatically affected my independence and dignity. I’m someone who’s lived for adventure, and losing my mobility has been more frightening to me than my cancer itself.
I now rely completely on my daughter, partner, and closest friends – who’ve stepped up to become my full-time carers. It’s a job no one should have to take on without training or choice. And yet, they’ve done it with humour, love, and incredible resilience. We still laugh, even through the chaos. It’s beautiful. But it’s also brutal.
Whilst I’ve had access to the absolute best medical expertise and treatment, I have experienced many gaps in patient care and advice. Basic things – like how to move safely around your home, or how to reduce the risk of falling – weren’t explained. Instead, it was the local charities and community services that stepped in, filling those crucial gaps with kindness and compassion, giving me the information I needed to fully understand my diagnosis, prognosis and next steps.
Thankfully, I am surrounded by an extraordinary support network of friends, family and colleagues where I have been deeply humbled by all the help and love that I have been afforded. I feel incredibly privileged, but as I’ve connected with others I’ve come to see just how stark the contrast can be. For many, the difference is night and day. Most of the immobile individuals I’ve met on this journey can’t afford — or even justify — the cost of a taxi to get to a hospital appointment.
Without the wonderful work of local charities and their dedicated volunteers, so many would be left to face their illness in quiet isolation. Emotional wellbeing is not a luxury; it is essential to healing. The care and empowerment that these charities provide is nothing short of life changing.
So now I need to ask you for all your help with my next challenge – to make sure others don’t face theirs alone.
What We Can Do Now – Together
I have been blessed to travel the world, work with amazing people, ride mountain trails and soak in incredible cultures. But now, I’m facing the reality that I may never do those things again. In both our work and personal lives, most of us move through life with ultimate freedom of movement. But for those with limited mobility it means losing simple pleasures, such as travelling to see a friend or loved one, being out in nature, or the wind in your hair on a bike.
I won’t accept that, and I don’t want others to either. That’s why I’m launching this campaign: to raise funds for a fleet of unique, joy-sparking mobility devices that most people in this situation simply cannot afford. In typical Stef style, these mobility scooters (below) won’t necessarily be what you might expect! But designed to bring back the wind-in-your-hair freedom we all deserve.
https://www.wildandwackymobility.co.uk/product/invader-xtreme/
https://www.tgamobility.co.uk/product/whill-c2/
https://movinglife.co.uk/products/atto-sport
With Your Help I Can:
• Fund a community of adaptive mobility scooters and bikes, available for free.
• Support three incredible charities that empower people through movement, independence, and joy.
• Bridge the gap between surviving and truly living with a disability or life-changing diagnosis.
This initiative is powered by love – and by community. With the valued support of my employers (Ethoca and
Mastercard) and your donations, we’ll maintain this fleet of mobility vehicles and ensure these resources reach the people who need them most.
The Charities You’ll Also Be Supporting:
💙 Sussex MS Centre
A lifeline for people living with MS and other neurological conditions. This place has become a sanctuary for me— full of warmth, wisdom, and full of heart. It runs entirely on donations and small fees, so every pound goes a long way.
🚴♂️ Pedal People
Wheels mean freedom – and fun. I know the power of movement, the way it lifts your spirits and expands your world. Pedal People brings that joy to people who might otherwise miss out: older adults, those with disabilities, or health issues by offering safe, supported cycling experiences using adaptive bikes.
♿ Mobility Trust
When someone can’t afford a wheelchair or mobility equipment, they step in. They provide powered wheelchairs and essential mobility aids that offer independence, confidence, and access to the world around them. Simple, practical, life-changing support that opens doors - literally and figuratively.
How you can help:
If my story has moved you—or if you simply believe in what these amazing organizations do—I’d be deeply grateful for your support.
Whether it’s £10, £100 or £1000, your donation will help people move more freely, connect more deeply, and live more fully.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, I will withdraw funds directly. It's the most efficient way to donate and saves time and costs.
Let’s take this big, messy, magical life and fill it with love, generosity and purpose.
Let’s do something beautiful. Together.
LFG - with love, wildness and a wide-open heart,
Stef 💛
