Many of you have Adventurers have followed here with great interest the story of Alice Pyne, an incredibly courageous English teen who faced down terminal cancer for the past five years.
I first wrote about Alice in A Teen’s Bucket List eighteen months ago, and provided updates in A Teen’s Bucket List – Update 1, Hey Alice! Good Works are Spreading Thanks to You!, Checking In on Alice Pyne).
The most recent update post, Alice Update: A New Charity Helping Others, shared how Alice and her family created the charitable organization Alice’s Escapes to help arrange caravan/hotel holidays in her local Cumbria for children fighting cancer and other deadly diseases and terminal conditions.
Alice Pyne at 10 Downing Street (Rex Features)
In the year and a half that I followed Alice’s journey, I have been amazed and humbled by their steadfast devotion to spreading the word about signing up as a bone marrow donor at one of the registries in the worldwide network. By heightening awareness, they also ended up raising funds – directly and indirectly – across the global.
Their ‘hook’ for attracting publicity was Alice’s own Bucket List of things she wanted to do before she died. With the assistance of others, Alice was able to check off many of the items on the list.
But it really wasn’t about giving Alice memorable experiences; she and her family made sure that it was always about raising awareness, raising funds, raising marrow donor numbers.
Yesterday Alice lost her battle, surrounded by her loving parents and dear sister.
Her mother Vicky announced on the Alice’s Escapes page on Facebook. I checked Alice’s website and the message is the same:
‘Our darling, Alice, gained her angel wings today. She passed away peacefully with Simon, Milly and myself by her side. We are devastated and know that our lives will never again be the same.
#NightNightAlice
Vicky 12 January 2013′
Knowing this day would eventually come doesn’t make it any easier. Last night I said a prayer, and despite not ‘knowing’ Alice personally, I shed some tears for her and her family.
I’ve spent this morning in quiet introspection, and later I’ll go for a long walk in the sunny woods with Daughter. But as soon as I finish this post, I’m going back to work on a project that is near and dear to my heart.
Why?
Because as I wrote in the last update, everything Alice ever did and achieved in her seventeen years on this earth ‘reminds us all of the power of focused minds, loving hearts, helping hands and limited time.’
#NightNightAlice
A sad day…
Yes indeed. Thanks Jack.
That’s a lovely tribute, Linda. I like how you’ll turn this into a positive and apply her outlook on life to your own. Bonne chance!
Thank you Russell. She was quite inspiring, and I’m sure her family will continue her charity on her behalf.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for the update… I remember when you wrote about Alice’s bucket list.
I love that her mother announced that ‘Alice had gained her angel wings’. What a beautiful way to put it. I will say a silent prayer for her family as they work through this devastating loss.
How kind, Anne. While the wonderful memories and the knowledge of how many lives Alice touched and helped through her good works will likely give them some solace. But at the end of the day, they are grieving the loss of their darling daughter. Very tough.
I also remember you writing about Alice’s bucket list. Stories like this make me remember to spend more time with my daughter (also called Alice), but as you say, there are other messages here and the one about “the power of focused minds, loving hearts, helping hands and limited time” is indeed a very good one to keep hold of. An inspiring, if sad post.
Thank you Michelle. I can’t imagine the grief Alice’s family is going through, but know they are moving forward with Alice’s foundation and raising funds to help others in similar situations. I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear from them but did receive a lovely RT message on Twitter.