"To think, ‘okay, I’ve been unwell, I’ve had to go through this situation, but this silver lining has come out of it’."
Mark remembers his parents keeping him company while he was paralysed in his hospital bed, being treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
“My mum and dad were looking at me, saying there are all these machines and wires and tubes, and you’re plugged in to everything. I wonder what that would’ve looked like. Maybe it’s best I didn’t see it.”
Even after being told he was in remission, he still felt really, really unwell.
"To think, ‘okay, I’ve been unwell, I’ve had to go through this situation, but this silver lining has come out of it’."
Facing a couple of years of treatment, Mark felt anxious about his future. Having an Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust trip on the horizon made him look forward to getting on with life.
“To be able to go sailing was fantastic. To think, ‘okay, I’ve been unwell, I’ve had to go through this situation, but this silver lining has come out of it’. I got to learn a whole new skill.”
It made him feel like life still had all of these challenging and exciting opportunities ahead. Opportunities that, at one point, seemed so unattainable.
"It all just keeps getting added up and it all comes to so much more."
From worrying about his future while in hospital to helping man a boat, Mark felt the trip support him get back in control of life.
“All of that knowledge and all of that experience and all of that wisdom in one place, be it a 40ft sailing yacht, or a barbecue on the shore, it’s all there. It all just keeps getting added up and it all comes to so much more.”
He was able to take what happened to him and become optimistic about everything that lay ahead again.
“It’s just a force for good really, isn’t it.”
If you, or someone you know, could benefit from Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust support, or you want to make a difference to young lives after cancer, here's how you can...
