While my wife supported me, Macmillan supported her

My name is Rich and I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer in 2018, just 10 Days after my daughter was born. I was told the odds of seeing her first Christmas, just 5 months later, weren’t good. I was 36 at the time. I was told major, life altering surgery and chemotherapy were my only hope, but the surgery had a mortality rating of 75%.

The cocky surgeon we met with put his feet up on his desk, looked me dead in the eye, and said that he was the best chance I had to see my daughter grow up. I have never trusted someone more… who doesn’t want the surgeon that is so confident and imperious?

It is my wife Sam, however, that is the hero of my story. While I was unconscious for 13 hours in surgery, she was pacing up and down outside, pushing our daughter in a pram, wondering if the next phone call would leave her a single parent, while all the time holding back tears to share a smile with our baby girl.

While I was sleeping, dosed up on a cocktail of pain relief, my body being held together with staples, she was travelling back and forth to visit me with our baby while looking after our two older children at home. She kept a smile on her face whenever she was near me, no matter what she felt inside. She is my rock, my hero and the strongest person I’ve ever known.

During chemotherapy, when I was slowly losing my will to go on, in and out of hospital with sepsis and a failing body, she led me to where our baby lay asleep in her cot, and with an unwavering tone she whispered in my ear “There, right there, is why you will never give up!” She was right, and it sparked all the fight I needed. She simply refused to let me give up, she would not let our story end so prematurely.

The fight went on, my immune system was shot. Every tiny illness led to hospitalisation. Every time we thought it was over, something would happen. Even a global pandemic, which was an unexpected challenge for us. She quarantined me, sanitised everything before it came into contact with me and kept me safe. The scars this all left weren’t just physical, I’m not the man I was. My wife never wavered though, never shied away, never gave up on me. She called me her superman, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn’t for her. Any strength I had I took from her. She is my warrior woman.

Then she told me one day, that if it wasn't for the support she received from MacMillian at QA Hospital, she wouldn’t have been able to get through it, that they brought her back from the edge on so many occasions. That every time she was supporting me, they were supporting her. I love my wife and I’m so thankful to MacMillan for what they did for her. When she was being strong for everyone else, while I was unable to give her the support she needed, they cared as much about her as they did me.

Our daughter is almost 8 now, I am cancer free and healthier than I’ve ever been. Now life is settled, my amazing wife and I are going to cycle the 54 miles from London to Brighton, to raise as much money for Macmillan Cancer Support as we can. Please give generously so this amazing charity can continue their work for other families like mine. So that in the darkest of times there is enough light to find their way out. Our story didn’t end with cancer, it continues, with the BHF London to Brighton Charity Ride.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/sam-and-rich?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL