As a school community, we are encouraging as many people as possible to sign up to the Bloodwise Wirral Bikeathon and raise money for this wonderful charity, in memory of a much loved and sorely-missed former student, Adam Clift, who sadly died from a rare blood cancer called Burkitt’s Lymphoma on Friday 11th March 2016.

Adam started at Calday Grange Grammar School in 2009, at the age of 11. On New Year’s Day 2014, he was diagnosed with this cancer, that affects children and adults but is more common in males. He was admitted to Alder Hey Hospital in January 2014 and, by his 16th birthday on 11th April 2014, the doctors told him that the cancer was gone. With this wonderful news, Adam began to return to his normal life; he sat his GCSE exams in which he did very well, and had a lovely summer with his family and friends.

Unfortunately though, by the end of the summer of 2014, the cancer had returned. Adam returned to Alder Hey Hospital for further chemotherapy treatment, followed by radiotherapy at Clatterbridge Hospital. He was so happy to be a member of our school, wearing his new suit with pride on his first day in Year 12 in September 2014 with his younger brother, Alasdair, by his side, who was starting his very first day of Year 7 at Calday, joining their middle brother, Joseph, who was in Year 10 and all members of Hollowell House.

On the 13th November 2014, Adam received a stem cell transplant from a donor in the United States, thanks to the Anthony Nolan Trust. The transplant was successful and he was able to leave his isolation room at the Royal Liverpool Hospital in time for Christmas.

Unfortunately, the first scan carried out in February 2015 showed that the cancer was still present. Adam continued to be treated at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and had as normal a life as he could manage in between visits. He kept in touch with our school throughout his illness, never missing a chance to attend school as Calday was so special to him. 

Adam was very proud of being at Calday, he loved talking about the school, the eccentricities of pupils and staff, the last day traditions and his mild loathing of all things athletic (...except the PE staff who he thought were really nice, just a bit misguided...!!) He is remembered as a wonderfully kind individual, an avid reader, a curious student who would turn his hand to anything that caught his attention. Adam would have taken part in the Wirral Bikeathon if the story was about someone else; his first thoughts on hearing he wasn't going to get better was for the effect it would have on his friends. He always looked out, not in,  even in the most difficult times.

Sadly, despite all the wonderful efforts of the doctors, the cancer grew and Adam got weaker. He transferred to Claire House in March 2016 and died on Friday 11th March 2016, exactly 1 month before his 18th birthday. He is sorely-missed by our entire school community. Adam had a very strong desire that, if he died, it should not be in vain and that his medical notes and any knowledge from his case should be used to inform future research. That is why Bloodwise is our school charity of choice as they are very much about research.

If you are interested in taking part in this fantastic event to raise money to help Bloodwise continue their research in Adam’s memory, you can sign up via this link:
https://bloodwise.org.uk/fundraising/events-challenges/wirral-bikeathon-sign-up

Bloodwise need £80,000 to hit their £1 million target for this year - let's see how much our school community can help them achieve this!!  Please do give this fundraising page link to your kind donors to help us help them!

Thank you very much for your support and see you out there!

Thomas Butler, Tom Pridgeon, Ben Newman
(Student Heads of Hollowell, Glegg & Bennett Houses)
and Joseph Clift - Head of Hollowell Charity