August 2008 Archives

I've just had a short conversation with Adrian's grandma, Barbara Fisher and she asked if I would put a very simple but very poignant quote on this blog. Which is what I am now doing. She asked me to raise the point that

Adrian has restored the true meaning behind the word celebrity

I think that is a fantastic quote and it got me thinking. Wikipedia defines a celebrity as "a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention". National newspapers, international Television? Without a doubt Adrian commanded a high degree of public and media attention. Why did he command such attention? Was it just because of his terrible illness? NO I believe it was because of his bravery in devoting the rest his life to helping others. Other words that were suggested to replace celebrity - "famous person, hero, lion, luminary, notable"

So in today's world of five minutes of fame, reality TV and pointless superstars; we still have REAL celebrity. People who command our attention and respect for worthwhile reasons.

Adrian Sudbury, true celebrity

Hello Everyone

However he did continue to work on the book idea behind the scenes - as reported in the Huddersfield Examiner here:

The Anthony Nolan Trust is holding a blood donor recruitment clinic in Nottingham today.

Regards
Liam

I have created a Book of Remembrance for Adrian Sudbury at http://remembrance.examiner.co.uk/bookofremembrance/index.cfm?action=view&bookId=28268

Please join me in remembering this wonderful person

Its Liam here, I am sorry to be writing the post I never wanted to write. I was sent this email by Adrian' dad Keith Sudbury:

Adrian Sudbury died peacefully in his sleep with his dad Keith and mum Kay last night.

Keith Sudbury said: "Every parent thinks their son or daughter is special and we are no different.

"Adrian touched all who knew him. We're very proud of all his achievements in tragically such a short time.

"Kay and I hope that all Adrian's good work will be continued by all those who knew and loved him."

There will be a private family funeral followed by a service of remembrance at Sheffield Cathedral at a date to be confirmed.

I'm sure you will all join me in offering you condolences to Adrian's family and friends at this very difficult time.

I have just got off the phone with our Prime Minister.

He phoned to explain that he had personally written to all the celebrities that me and the Anthony Nolan Trust had come up with to to try and make people think again about bone marrow donation.

He also had nothing but praise for me, the work we have all been doing and he reiterated the fact he thought I was an inspiration.

Remember, I had thought of this before but decided not to make it part of the campaign because I just assumed it would be an outright no.

This was very much their idea and the very fact that Mr Brown has phoned me himself to confirm he has written those letters is testament to how much this means to him.

Directly afterwards I was able to speak to Ed Balls again.

He also said how inspirational the campaign had been and took his hat off to just how much we have achieved in such a short space of time.

We agreed the best way to make this talk possible was to work not only from the top down but from the bottom up too.

I'd take this the Government to do as much as it can; produce all the resources to enable the talk to be given

These last weeks, or however many seem to keep unfurling ahead of me, are dotted with incidents of dropping off to sleep, random drowsiness, disorientation and distraction.

Writing this blog is something I still love but it is becoming increasingly challenging to construct.

The latest update is I've been given a syringe driver. This means drugs are constantly put into my body throughout the day. This is why I'm so drowsy and when talking to people, it makes it really difficult to concentrate on what some people are saying.

I appreciate this is something which we have all experienced plenty of at some time in our lives.

I'm on a mixture of painkillers, anti-anxiety and anti-sickness drugs.

Whoops! Every day is getting harder now. For those of you wondering why there was a photo with no words for about four hours it's because I started writing and nodded off!

I suppose that is an accurate reflection of what life is like for me right now.

This is a strange and difficult time for me. I have always worried about silly things and of course so much about those I care for.

With the news that it really is a case of a matter of weeks (I'm still not confident about these doctors' predictions) I was crippled with the anxiety about how I am going to see all my family and friends for a good length of time, and make it so they felt like they had every opportunity to say to me precisely what they wanted.

On Saturday morning, at around 3am, I sat up bolt right. There was no reason other than I could not get the Queen (Elizabeth II) out of my head. I had this overwhelming sense of panic and deep breathing. It was so strange.

She wasn't doing anything, threatening me with a wedgie or a Chinese burn, I just couldn't shake off the panic.

Hi everybody, Liam here

The Anthony Nolan Trust takes back lives from leukaemia by managing, and recruiting new donors to, the UK's most successful bone marrow register. The Anthony Nolan Trust is an independent charity (Reg. No. 803716 / SCO38827) and continually relies on support from individuals and companies.
Find out how at www.anthonynolan.org.uk

Hi Everyone, Liam here

Just dropping you a minor update about the future of the blog. Very shortly the blog will be getting a slight redesign, allowing us to re-organize some of the content to make it easier to find, do a few things better. But don't worry all of Adrian's posts and all your comments will stay the same. I have no fixed time when this will happen and there will be warnings before it does.

As you know now I am increasingly dropping out of it.

My colleages did remind me about my letters from Prince Charles and London Mayor Boris Johnson but it wasn't until I spotted comments from Tash and Katherine that I thought I should really include them in the blog.

Many thanks for reminders.

Was sick last night again but generally had a better day today.

Hi everyone, it's Liam here