GOODBYE TO THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
The death of much loved ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, yesterday has led to an outpouring of love, fond memories and best of all the circulation of one of the most poignant and inspiring videos I have ever had the privilege to see, from this ultimate fighter who battled his cancer for 7 years.
I watched it through a flood of tears and it turned my thoughts to my Gramps who lost his fight 15 years ago and my Mum who has now fought cancer twice and although she's currently in remission, she continues to fight daily to regain the health she once enjoyed.
For those of us encircled by the deadly ring of cancer, recent comments downplaying cancer, most notably from Dr Richard Smith, a former long-serving editor of the British Medical Journal, now chairman of a health technology company, who on an online blog declared that 'Cancer is ‘the best way to die’, and that the country should therefore ‘stop wasting billions’ trying to find a cure for the disease; might as well be a punch in the face.
When someone says to me they hate something or someone, I always now temper it with just how much I hate cancer. This body invader strips away the body and soul of it's sufferers, diminishes their daily lives, vibrancy, strength and bodies.
Nothing can ever prepare you for the sight of a loved one literally shutting down and physically disappearing in front of you. I truly wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy and it's for that reason that I quote and ask you all to remember the words of Stuart Scott.
"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, while you live and the manner in which you live,"
RIP Stuart Scott and all those other ultimate fighters who you've joined and to those that are still with us, fighting to live their lives their way, your courage and strength are an example to us all.