On 15th November 2002 I (Adam Dempsey) was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and after a little over three years of chemotherapy I was done. (I wrote a more detailed overview on my blog on the 5th Anniversary – 5 Years Ago Today Changed My Life!).
Right from the start both CLIC + Sargent (separate charities at the time) both helped me and my family:
- My parents and sister stayed in CLIC House in Bristol whilst I was in Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
- Sargent put us in touch with correct people to make changes to our house to assist me.
- In later stages of my treatment CLIC Nurses visited at college to take blood, minimising my trips to hospital to allow as much normality in my life as possible.
- Other things I’m sure I’ve forgot.
Over the years I’ve done a few things to raise money for CLIC Sargent (Now Young Lives vs Cancer) (eg having my hair/beard shaved in 2014) but I decided I wanted to do something big to celebrate 20 years and to thank them for all of the help they gave me, my family and everyone else.
For the past few years I’ve also helped Ronald McDonald House Bristol which is also a ‘Home from Home’ similar to CLIC House. Some friends have stayed there with their children and they are also celebrating a 20th anniversary this year so I decided to include them in the fundraising too.
I was very keen to make a big point of the “20” which is why I decided on “20 Things for 20 Years”.
I’m going to be partaking in a few ‘challenges’ (Not sure that’s quite the word) – 100 Mile Walk, Land’s End Cycle, Cutting out Crisps, Sober October and the fairly unique Going Free of Comedy Tees.
Additionally various events and games are planned (thanks to lots of help from friends and family) including Bingo, Quiz Night, Coffee Morning and More, all culminating in The Big Ball where we will be able to announce a (rough) total of how much has been raised for these two brilliant charities!