Support Sam - My sisters Soulmate in his Cancer Fight

Hi my name is Naz,

My family and I have set up this fundraiser to help raise some much needed funds to support our brother in law Sam and my sister Kuli navigate this terrible disease. Please see their story below.

Thank you

Hi Everyone,

My darling husband Sam is in the fight of his life and any help you can give we would be so so grateful.

Sam has been battling terminal bowel cancer for almost 5 years now. He was first diagnosed in September 2019 aged 45 years old, a few days before his 46th birthday. At that stage we already knew it was stage 4 and his specialists were very forthcoming in saying that this journey would be a very long and tough one - how right they were!!

We have always been so positive throughout this whole process and hopeful for the best outcome, we still are. We were ready for all the challenges he was going to face and there have been so many. Within the first 12 months alone he had 4 major surgeries, aggressive chemo and radiation. There is no way it would defeat us. Devastatingly, his body told a different story and every scan showed more progression and his diagnosis was changed to terminal. This rocked us both, first hearing the diagnosis cancer then the word terminal.

Being diagnosed with cancer is not something you can prepare for and 5 years is a long time to be dealing with this terrible disease. My darling husband Sam has faced his diagnosis, every scan, surgery, radiation, chemo, ablation, and infection etc with such strength and resilience. I always knew my husband was mentally and physically strong and he has certainly shown this in spades. However, the emotional, physical, and mental toll it has taken on his body is inconceivable. Yet he continues to fight, to smile, to laugh, to make jokes and to show up even if his body is letting him down.

I first met Sam over 21 years ago whilst travelling Australia. It was a chance meeting, a real sliding doors moment. We hit it off instantly and have now been together 21 years. It has not always been easy; we have suffered so much pain and loss. For years we tried to conceive, not having any success, naturally we tried IVF. We went through 7 rounds and suffered 4 devastating miscarriages. By this time, I was getting older so the odds were stacked against us and funds had dried up. However, we still wanted to push on and try again.

During this now last round of IVF, Sam had noticed some changes in his body. A Dr’s appointment was booked and colonoscopy was scheduled. By July 2019 I had miscarried, then Sam was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer in September the same year. Our dream of starting a family was gone as we now had another focus.

Our only baby, our beautiful fur baby Eddie, died in June Last year. He was 17 years old so definitely led a full, happy life. It of course still came as a complete shock with his sudden deterioration, he was the little dog that would live forever in our eyes. He was such a strong happy boy. Eddie, was so loving and very loyal, he was everything to us, he followed us everywhere and he was an amazing companion during any treatment Sam could have a home, while I was working.

Life was getting harder, we both struggled with the loss of our little Eddie and we knew we needed help and company for Sam whilst I was still holding down a demanding full-time role.

We had not seen my mum since 2019, covid made that very difficult. When I asked mum to come to Australia for a few months she did not hesitate. The support is just what we needed, having that extra body in the house adding so much warmth again was beautiful. The amazing cooking, cleaning, domestic chores and just generally sitting a chatting for hours. We even managed a trip to Bali……..this time together was priceless!!

We started to plan a big trip to the UK for Christmas, to take mum back home and for me and Sam to visit some old favourite spots and maybe throw in that honeymoon we always wanted in Florence. We were so excited and Sam had the all clear from his Oncologist to travel. Almost everything was in place for the big trip.

Unfortunately, mum started to get sick, what started as a cough quickly escalated to her breathing deteriorating. We saw so many doctors and she was diagnosed with COPD. She settled slightly from the inhaler but her breathing was still not great and energy levels were very low. She, like my dad always had issues with their lungs but we had no idea how bad it was.

Devastatingly, Friday 8th December mum had a fall in her bedroom and when rushed to Emergency and was then placed in ICU, she was diagnosed with a lung disease that was sitting in the background, quietly and rapidly getting worse. She tragically and very unexpectedly passed on December 13th. My world was shattered, first my dog, then my mum in the space of 6 months. Why are so many cruel things happening in my life!

Sam’s health also started to deteriorate in December. This year, 2024 has been amongst the hardest of years, he has been in and out of hospital 9 times, some of them long scary stays in the ICU. We are keeping our heads high and finding ways to create the best memories we can together and with close family and friends, however its getting tougher and tougher.

I finally finished work at the end of March, kicking myself that I should have finished sooner so I could have spent some quality time with the ones I love, the family I have lost.

Sam is the love of my life and I know when I met him that he was it for me. With everything that life has thrown at us it has only made me love you even more. We will continue to fight for as long as we can and never give up.

With us both out of work now any support you can give would help us with the continued costs of this terrible disease.

We also would like you all to show your support to Bowel Cancer Australia, you are ‘Never Too Young’ to be diagnosed with this disease. Do not put off getting yourself checked, you know your own body better than anyone and can tell if something is not right. Finally, the age of the home bowel cancer test was dropped to 45 from 50. However, this was after Sam was diagnosed. If this was in place 5 years ago, I might be telling a different story.

All my love

Kuli xxx