SDBTT Ian Slee Fund
June tells her own story, and honours her husband Ian by setting up a Fund in his memory:
After Ian died, it took me quite a while to remember the fun, fit, handsome & healthy Ian of pre BT days - all I could remember was the ill and gradually failing Ian, the despair and the nursing. Not that Ian ever lost his sense of humour and hope throughout all his surgery, treatments and illness. He never talked of death, as nothing in his life had ever beaten him before and he sure as hell wasn't going to let this lousy hand be his downfall. He was a Marathon runner and endurance athlete and he would never give up on a challenge, no matter how tough or whatever injury he may incur in the process, always maintaining never to have a DNF (did not finish) after his name. He told the surgeon this prior to anesthetic before his de-bulking surgery, to make sure hedid a good job!
Ian ran the London Marathonand then a CornishHalf Marathon 2 & 3 weeks before his first Tumour symptom - so obviously had the BT then, but was unaware. His love of sport encompassed running, walking, cycling, swimming and canoeing.He walked from John O'Groats to Lands Endwith our eldest son Tim who, at the age of 10 became the youngest person to do the walk. He cycled the same route in 8 and a half days - over 100 miles a day. He ran the Cornish Coastal Path, Cycled thro' France,Spain, the Welsh coast, the Isle of Wight. He was Yorkshire schoolboy swimming champion, swam for the Royal Navy, boxed for the RN - undefeated champion, winning all his fights by a knock-out. Played football for the RN and other local teams. This apart from running dozens of Marathons and Half Marathons.
Though not a big man, Ian was a larger than life character who lit up any room he entered. He had a wonderful sense of fun and getting the utmost out of life, and agreat knack of putting people at their ease andmaking sense and calm out of a crisis.
We ran a Beach Cafe in Cornwall for 20 years until retiring a year before the BT diagnosis. Ian played 'mine host' to our localsand customers in the best way ever - always with a smile and a joke or a chat about something. He never forgot a face and always remembered people the following season, much to their amazement. His love & knowledge of the sea and of all nature was immense. He was a bee-keeper and loved his bees. We sold the honey in the Beach Cafe.
We were married for over 35 years, have 2 wonderful sons who have inherited their father's love of competitive sport and sense of adventure.
Losing their father, mentor and hero has been so difficult for them to come to terms with, but they also know, as I do, that Ian would not want us to be sad forever and would wish us as soon as possible to get on with our lives in a positive and fulfilling way.
This is what we are now doing and this year has been an amazing one for us all.
Tim, eldest son - 27, sent an e-mail to all friends in the New Year inviting anyone who was able to join him on a 'wish-list' of planned trips, journeys, action-packed w/e's from Glastonbury to Tomato festival in Spain, Cornish bike rides and sea-fishing trips to Australia's East Coast, sky-diving, white-water rafting, Sweden & Denmark, Ibiza & Jersey. He hascompleted all of these things, joined by different friends/his brotheralong the way.
Oliver, youngest -21, has travelled to Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, worked 2 months in Tanzania teaching children, climbed Kilimanjaro and is currently doing 3 months in USA driving from New York to San Francisco.
I spent 8 days with both boys in Australia and then left them and did 6 more weeks travelling to every state except Victoria on my own. The trip is something Ian & I were going to do together and tho' I did it differently, I felt him with me all the time. It was a turning point for me and gave me so much confidence about tackling life alone. I am now going to Cuba next month on Trek across an uninhabited part of the country with 29 Irish people I have never met! It is for an Irish based children's charity called Children in Crossfire.
This summer, our local Running Club - which Ian founded 3 years ago - held a Memorial run/walk in Ian's name along the 5 mile stretch of coastal path that Ian ran every day from our home to the Beach Cafe. We raised over £650 for the SDBTT - it was the most beautiful day and a great turn-out. Ian would have been honoured and I was very proud. We now hope to make it an annual event.
Details of the Cornish Coastal walk which took place on the 29th June 2008 in memory of Ian will be available shortly.