I took time out from my schedule to be my mum’s personal PR Officer for the last few weeks. She’s 84 and has terminal ovarian cancer. On the day they told her that she’s coming to the end of her life she decided to do a sky dive to raise funds for research so that women with ovarian cancer have a better chance of survival long after she is gone. At first I thought she was joking; but she was deadly serious, because she wanted to give back and felt she had nothing to lose.
She has been receiving treatment from the Royal Marsden Hospital in Fulham for nearly two years. First she had six sessions of chemo, followed by a huge operation, and then another six sessions of chemo. That controlled the cancer for a few months, but sadly it began growing again and none of the treatments tried since have managed to control it.
Essentially, she’s been presented with a really difficult challenge, both physically and mentally, and the way she has dealt with it has been completely inspirational.
In days gone by my mum would have perhaps been anxious and tearful, but instead she transformed into a zen-like Elder and has been an amazing example to us all. In the extra two years her doctor Professor Gore and his team at the Royal Marsden Hospital have given her, she has experienced so much personal joy through her family. She became a great-grandmother for the first time when my daughter Phoebe had baby Marnie. A few months later my eldest son Chesney married a wonderful young woman called Laura, who absolutely adores my mother. Her two grandchildren in Australia Emile and Chessca graduated from university and lastly - but by no means least in my world - I got engaged to a wonderful man.
My mum, who my sister nick-named Ripcord Rosa, did her sky dive last Thursday. She leapt out of a plane at 13,000 feet, went into free-fall and then parachuted back to firm land. Despite the fact that she was throwing up for some time afterwards she was delighted that she rose to the challenge.
We set her up a JustGiving page and helped her to post on Facebook and Twitter. PR Newswire sent out the press release I wrote and the story got picked up by media around the world. There are features in newspapers coming this week in addition to the news coverage we generated for her last week. The cherry on the cake was her appearance on ITV Good Morning Britain on Friday morning - and her delivery was faultless. As someone who spent years being nervous on the TV set (I have appeared on TV numerous times as a wellbeing expert and self-help author, and have campaigned for the abolition of legal highs ), I was completely breath-taken by her calmness and serenity as she swanned into the studio with and her impeccable delivery. I’m sure being interviewed by the handsome Ben Shepherd helped to put her at ease.
Rosa free-falling from a plane for charity
The messages that have come flooding in since the TV appearance have been so moving they made her cry, many going as far as to say she has changed their attitude to life, thanking her for being so brave and inspirational. Every time she gets a message or someone makes a donation she smiles and feels proud.
It’s been an amazing experience for me to be part of and watch closely as she has blossomed. It made me stop and reflect on the importance of living in the moment and being your most authentic self. Not afraid to show your vulnerabilities and do your best to love life and those around you. As I came to realise after losing my 21 year-old daughter , the past is gone, who knows what the future holds, so the only time is now. It’s the attitude that we go into each new day with, whether we decide to say I can or I can’t when it comes to challenges, and how much love we have in our hearts for ourselves as well as others around us that really counts.
Journeying through life isn’t always a smooth passage for most of us. We sometimes encounter tricky and difficult times. I feel strongly that it’s not what is dealt to us during our lives but actually how we deal with it. I’ve walked this path with Rosa this last two years and am proud to be her daughter. I will remember the way she chose to travel the last chapter in her life with love, gratitude and joy in her heart and that will never cease to impress me.
To donate to Rosa's JustGiving campaign visit www.justgiving.com/rosa-kingston
