Journey of hope
A UCLH cancer patient raised nearly £13,000 by traveling 4,300 miles in a classic car to say ‘thank you’ for his treatment.
Colin Craythorne drove his 1982 Citroen 2CV from University College Hospital all the way to Vancouver, Canada, in what he called The Journey of Hope. The drive took place between May 23 and June 19.
He was joined by fellow cancer patient Paul Rodman who raised an additional £2,000 for the UCLH Leukaemia and Lymphoma Unit.
The unit enabled Colin and Paul to receive complementary therapy in addition to their conventional chemotherapy treatment.
Colin, who benefited from reiki and reflexology, said the service saved his life. “The reiki and reflexology lifted me from periods of depression into more positive thoughts. It’s a fantastic service and if it wasn’t available I wouldn’t be here today.”
Colin was diagnosed with cancer in May 2006 and is now in remission.
He added: “I think my recovery was down to the aims I gave myself. When I was in hospital at my lowest ebb and I thought I was going to die a nurse told me to set myself three aims. They were: to be out of hospital for my wife’s 60th which I achieved; to be around for my own 60th which I achieved last year and to be married to my wife longer than she was married to her ex-husband, which will happen next year!”
Gemma Trout, leukaemia clinical nurse specialist, said: “The reason that Colin did this journey was very simple. He wanted to say thank you – and support patients going through their own diagnosis.
“In particular, Colin found the Complementary Therapy Team at UCLH incredibly supportive and helpful throughout his treatment. The protected time that a complementary therapy treatment provides for patients is invaluable, giving them a chance to rest and reflect.”
Patients can experience reiki therapy, reflexology, aromatherapy massage and a supportive chat during the very long days in hospital. Colin is splitting his donation between complementary therapy and T16 South where he received his care during and after his chemotherapy regimens.
Complementary therapy is given free to haematology including all daycare patients, relatives – and staff and this is paid for partly from 0099, the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Unit’s fund.
Click here to read more about the journey.
Article Contact
Name:Sara Goldman Email:sara.goldman@uclh.nhs.uk Phone:ext 9526
10/08/2010 at 12:58 pm
Well done! great for making people aware of complementary therapies for palliative care!
01/10/2011 at 4:52 am
well i wasnt intending comming here
) was looking for something compleatly diverse but ended up here and glad i did 
food for thought perhaps for a blog post i had been thinking about so will link back to here if thats ok ? and may well i wish you a happy new year.