Running for Ali

I have so many happy memories from my final year at Exeter, most of which were spent with Ali. That’s where I began to fall in love with him and everything was so exciting; I never thought that something as crazy as cancer would end our relationship. It has been so incredibly hard for us over the last year after Ali received the news in 2012 that he had a rare sarcoma in his foot, which meant his condition was terminal aged just 23. I have had to watch the person I love go through so much pain, physically and emotionally. Ali hardly ever complained, even when I knew the treatment was getting him down. He put on such a brave face as he wanted to protect everyone around him. It’s so strange as you think you would have some sort of emotional break down in our situation, but somehow we both managed to muddle through and still enjoy our time together. Ali always made the most of every single day as if it was his last. I remember calling him after work, when he was supposed to be resting, to find he had been installing solar panels on the roof. At the time I was annoyed with him for doing too much, but now I really admire his courage and determination.

It has been such an awful thing to watch Ali slowly drift away but he was always so positive about everything. Being with him at the hospice during the last two weeks of his life was heart breaking for me but Ali kept a smile on his face and continued to make us all laugh with his sarcastic jokes, even when he was in great pain. He has been such an inspiration to me and taught me so many things, something that I can never repay him for. I now have a huge gap in my life that I don’t think will ever be filled, as he was such a unique and wonderful person. I wish that I had appreciated all of the little things he did for me over the last three years. Those are the things that I will miss the most, like cuddling in bed and eating marmite crumpets.

2014 is going to be a difficult year but I am lucky to have lovely friends and family who will be there to support me. One such lovely friend is Elizabeth Gee who has agreed to run the London Marathon with me. It will be a gruelling 26.2 mile course but it will be nothing compared to the year of pain that Ali went through. Lizzie and I will be fundraising for a charity called CLIC Sargent who support children and young people with cancer. They were such a big help to Ali and his family right from the start. Both Lizzie and I want to give something back so that they can continue their fantastic work. CLIC Sargent assign families with a social worker who, aside from providing practical support, becomes a friend to talk to who really understands the complete devastation we are going through. Ali was really grateful for the support that Christine provided to him but also his parents and younger brother. Ali worried about the affect his diagnosis had on his family so it was a relief to know that Christine was caring for them too.

We will be running on the 13th of April, which would have been our anniversary, so I know Ali will be there in spirit cheering us on. Please help Lizzie and I to make Ali proud by supporting CLIC Sargent. We really appreciate all of your donations and would love to see you on race day!

Thank you,

Lizzie and Hettie x

If you would like to know more about Ali and his diagnosis, please see his blog:

http://bollockstocancer.blogspot.co.uk/

If you would like to know more about CLIC Sargent, please visit:

www.clicsargent.org.uk