In Mid-2021, a best friend of mine Stephen was diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukaemia (ALL) which is a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia in adults. After a period of feeling
unwell that started earlier that year, his symptoms which turned out to be the early symptoms of
Leukaemia were initially mis-diagnosed for other conditions such as diabetes and came from him not
initially being able to be seen in person by GP’s due to the covid pandemic.
We don’t know for certain that if Stephen’s diagnosis had come earlier than it did, that things would
have turned out different, but one thing known is that it wouldn’t have made things any worse. An
early diagnosis can only improve the chances of a person’s successful recovery following treatment.
So, we were all left heartbroken when Stephen passed away in February 2022, leaving two young
sons Seb & Hugo. The loss of Stephen as you can imagine was very hard hitting, as it is still today and
there is a massive void now in all our lives. He was genuinely one of the most kind, helpful & selfless
individuals you could have met, always putting others first even when dealing with his illness and on
reflection we saw him more like an angel on earth, than in heaven.
From this point we wanted to do something to help fight this horrible disease and find a charity
based in the Northeast to work with in Stephen’s memory with the goal to help raise awareness of
Leukaemia, such as the early symptoms and raise money to fund patient care, research into the
disease, get better more advanced equipment to help those unfortunate to be diagnosed with blood
cancer.
It was the staff and in particular the blood cancer team on Ward 33 at the Freeman hospital, who
had looked after him so well, that put Stephen’s wife Anne in touch with Angela & Lisa at Bright Red
and things progressed from there and led to me getting more involved.
Since Stephen’s passing, we as a group have undertaken various challenges in the charities name to
raise funds and awareness by doing such events as Ride100, a 100-mile bike ride around London.
Whilst others completed this challenge riding around Durham and others even doing it in Tampa,
Florida, The Three Peaks challenge was completed and several of us have since taken on the Great
North Run (Myself now twice after taking part in this year’s event) and we have raised more than
£15k for Bright Red which we are mightily proud of.
I am personally proud to have been asked to have become an ambassador for Bright Red and will do
what I can to help raise the profile, services offered and continue to raise much needed funds for the
charity. Getting awareness out there of Leukaemia is key, as if we can help just one person to get an
early diagnosis and beat this disease it will all be worth it, and I know Stephen would be proud to be
the main motivator behind our efforts to do so.