Most of us go through life without stopping to take a breath and cherish what we have. We make plans, we work hard, build our homes and relationships and we assume that it will never be taken away . We don’t really think that one day it will all end without warning.

Till it happens. And that is what brain cancer does. Me and Mark never thought of brain cancer and didn’t really know anything about it . Mark was healthy young man , very fit, full of energy and with huge appetite for life. “Mr Positive “ who would grab every opportunity to live to the full, to have adventures. He looked after his health . He looked after me and people around him. Working hard but planning retirement and more adventures.

Then, in February 2023 came the perfect “train crash “ . Mark was diagnosed with Glioblastoma and by the time of diagnosis it was already terminal.

Nobody ( including us) can ever truly imagine what it is like till it happens to you . And you don’t want to and cannot imagine it . This is when everything you knew ends. You enter different, alien reality. We were thrown into hospital corridors, wards, operating theatres, scans, specialist, palliative care , equipment, carers in your home ….

List goes on . It is like you start living somebody else’s life that is completely alien.

Mark endured all in his usual way- focusing on me rather than himself.

6 months after diagnosis though my beautiful Mark lost the battle with Glioblastoma.

The one thing though that cancer never killed and never will, was our love for each other .

The future we planned together has been ripped out . We didn’t really have time to process what was happening.

I couldn’t save Mark but I want to help others who are facing this terrible cancer. I don’t want others to be robbed of future together.

Life is not about gathering possessions and status, it is about shared experiences with those we love, about relationships. So do savour every moment as it literally could be your last one. I want to help others have more time with those who they love .

Brain cancer is one of the most lethal ones and it takes mostly young people, way before their time. It is extremely difficult cancer to treat as it is highly sophisticated one , capable of evading immune system. It feels that research funding has been denied for brain cancer perhaps because it is too difficult and complex? I hope this is not the case , but to have the same outdated and ineffective treatments for over 30 years while treatments for other cancers are ( rightly so) advancing?! Surely this needs to change .

But we can change this . March is Brain Tumour awareness month. Brain Tumour Charity (which was of great support to me and Mark) holds various events and one of them is Twilight walk. This year, as in the previous two , I will be holding my own twilight walk. I will be in beloved Lake District and plan to do the walk there next week . I will be joined by two of our dear friends .

So if you are able to support us either by donation or words of support , it would mean a lot . Mark’s friends have been so generous with my previous endeavours to raise awareness and funds to fight this cancer . I am so grateful to all. I don’t want Mark to be assigned to the past and memories. Let’s make a difference and keep Mark’s legacy going .

I hope he would approve of me taking to the hills in his name, after all this is also what he loved.

Thank you

Ewa x