My Son Steven Lewis died in December 2011 at the age of 31.  He was a fit (except for a suspected stomach ulcer), fun loving person with load of friends and a management position in Newport Leisure.  Three months after doing a 24 hour gym marathon for the Sparkle appeal, 1 month after laying a path and patio for us he was diagnosed with T4 Stomach Cancer with no hope of treatment.  On  21 December he died.

Everything was certainly in fast forward and it felt like we had all been hit by a truck.  He absolutely hated being in hospital but with the care of St David’s Hospice and the Doctor and Nurses from our surgery it was possible for him to be looked after in his own home.  In the last month of his life he was able to spend time with his family, go out in a wheelchair with his friends, have friends around to watch DVDs, spend the night in the Celtic Manor in the Presidential Suite that his friends paid for, watch the Dragons with his Dad and Brother and literally live the remainder of his short life to the full. 

He was very brave and never spent one day in his hospital bed until the day before he died.

Obviously it was an earth shattering blow and life will never be the same for us again but I decided in April of 2012 I could either sit down and waste the rest of my life or make something positive come out of this dreadful loss, something that he would be proud of.  In April while seeing a Bereavement Counsellor from St David’s I decided to take on a charity walk arranged in memory of Steve that had been cancelled so that we could raise money for St David’s in memory of our Son.  With friends and family we have now raised £53,000 (October 2017) and we have many events planned for 2018.  Our fundraising is spreading and many people have helped us in so many ways either from a distance or more hands on.  John Hartson supports our fundraising because his story helped to inspire Steven when he was so ill.  Our goal is to raise our current amount to £60,000 or above by the end of May 2015.

I am proud to say we have paid for a water feature to be placed in the gardens of the Hospice and sponsored a room in Steven's name in the new 15 bed Hospice.  We intend to continue to support St David's a very worthwhile cause.