{"id":7369,"date":"2021-02-26T13:41:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T13:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=7369"},"modified":"2021-02-26T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T14:00:57","slug":"the-power-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2021\/02\/26\/the-power-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power Of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, CONNECTED was privileged to speak to three close-knit friends about their experiences at Reading, their individual journeys since graduating from university, and how they are pulling together to support each other through incredibly difficult circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transformative friendships<\/strong><\/h4>\n

University can be a transformative stage of a person\u2019s life, no more so than when we make lifelong friends along the way. Harry Martin, Sinead Nolan and Ryan Morris tell CONNECTED how their experiences at Reading became precious memories, and how their friendship has helped spark hope from the darkness of cancer.<\/p>\n

Harry said: \u201cI met Sinead aged 13 when she joined my school from Ireland. A couple of years later we began dating and both went on to study biomedical degrees at Reading. We were attracted by the beautiful campus, vast green spaces and welcoming atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinead \u2013 who switched to a mathematics<\/a> degree after her first year \u2013 added:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cPersonally I was really nervous about leaving home, whereas Harry was quite excited. But as soon as I arrived at Reading I could picture myself there. It felt homely, safe and familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Harry and Sinead met Ryan \u2013 who was also studying in the School of Biological Sciences<\/a> \u2013 through their studies. He said: \u201cI chose Reading because of the flexible course which enabled me to specialise without committing upfront; but it was the friends I met who made it a truly incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry and Ryan agreed that one of their favourite memories at Reading was the night of their last undergraduate exam. Harry reminisced: \u201cWe were finally free of revision and we just had a great time celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinead said: \u201cI enjoyed my whole time at Reading. All the people I met there are brilliant and are definitely friends for life. If I could go back to Reading now, with the same people, I would do so in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan added:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI feel blessed to have made such a great friendship group at Reading. It\u2019s incredible to be able to look back at that wonderful period of my life, filled with so many great memories.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Beyond Reading<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The friendship that began at Reading is still going strong, with Harry, Sinead, Ryan and the rest of the group still meeting up and supporting each other on their different paths post-university.<\/p>\n

Harry and Sinead both returned to their hometown of Swindon unsure of their next steps; then Harry decided to train as an army aircraft technician and Sinead began working for a local software development company. Ryan is now studying for a PhD, a continuation of his undergraduate and master\u2019s studies at Reading, at the University of Nottingham.<\/p>\n

\"\"But despite physical distance, their friendship has strengthened following graduation; and not only that, Harry and Sinead\u2019s relationship has also moved on to another chapter with their recent engagement.<\/p>\n

Sinead reminisced: \u201cAfter being friends for a couple of years, Harry and I started dating aged 15. He asked me out after one of our Duke of Edinburgh meetings; he gave me a knowing look and said \u2018do you wanna?\u2019 We\u2019ve now been together for nine and a half years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry continued: \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to propose to Sinead for a few years; I was nervous but knew I just had to go for it. After scouring the internet for a ring, I planned a date night and after we\u2019d eaten I asked Sinead to close her eyes.<\/p>\n

\n

“I said \u2018do you remember how I asked you out by saying do you wanna\u2019? She opened her eyes and the ring was in front of her. I was overjoyed when she said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Harry\u2019s journey <\/strong><\/h4>\n

However, life took an unexpected, life-shattering turn for Harry when a trip to the doctor about tingling toes and back pain resulted in a devastating diagnosis.<\/p>\n

After receiving advice from his doctor to take anti-inflammatory drugs for what was thought to be a herniated disc, Harry\u2019s symptoms worsened: \u201cThey took me in for a movement and stress assessment, then rushed me off for an MRI. They sent my scans to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and asked me to come back the following day.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at that point Harry heard the words that no-one \u2013 least of all a 24-year-old \u2013 wants to hear, changing Harry and Sinead\u2019s lives forever.<\/p>\n

Harry explained:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThey found a lesion in my spine and they thought it was probably cancer. After a seven-hour spinal biopsy, I was diagnosed with Grade 4 Glioblastoma at the end of April last year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Being diagnosed with a very aggressive type of cancer is devastating, but receiving that diagnosis in the middle of a global pandemic made it even harder.<\/p>\n

Sinead said: \u201cThe pandemic meant that Harry had to go through those incredibly traumatic first weeks on his own \u2013 including his official diagnosis and time in hospital.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cEverything happened very quickly. It was only 14 days from going back to the doctor to say the tingling in his toes had worsened, to receiving a critical cancer diagnosis and Harry very rapidly becoming paralysed from the waist down.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Harry\u2019s treatment<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Harry\u2019s treatment began straightaway, with six weeks of radiotherapy to his brain and spine followed by four months of chemotherapy, and another five-day boost of radiotherapy later in November. However, a review scan showed that the treatment wasn\u2019t working as effectively as hoped and the cancer had significantly progressed.<\/p>\n

Harry said: \u201cI had a month off treatment to enjoy Christmas, then in January I started a new chemotherapy.\u201d Sinead added:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe oncologist shared with us that this chemo only has a 40% chance of having any effect \u2013 even if just to stabilise him \u2013 and if it doesn\u2019t work then Harry is likely to have less than eight months to live.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The course of chemotherapy that Harry is currently on is the last option available to him on the NHS: \u201cWhen we received this news, we decided to explore different treatment options \u2013 and that\u2019s why we have launched the fundraiser.\u201d Harry explained.<\/p>\n

Sinead added: \u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at two patients with Glioblastoma, one patient\u2019s case will be completely different to the other and yet they receive the same treatment. We\u2019ve found CeGat, a clinic in Germany, where they aim to personalise treatment to specifically target the make-up of individual tumours.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAlthough this German clinic can\u2019t guarantee their treatment will be effective \u2013 no one can do that \u2013 they are providing alternative treatments for Harry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hope for Harry<\/strong><\/h4>\n

With no other options available to them on the NHS, Sinead, Harry and Ryan set up a GoFundMe page<\/a><\/u> called Harry\u2019s Healing Fund.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe only set up the page about 35 days ago, but it\u2019s already had an incredible response.\u201d Sinead explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially it was family and friends who generously donated, but what is even more amazing is that they all took it upon themselves to raise awareness and start organising their own fundraising ideas, like sponsored walks and runs. We\u2019ve had so many creative ideas from lots of different people around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan added: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen all sorts \u2013 there was a live cookery course last week and there\u2019s been raffles and tombolas. Another friend of Harry\u2019s from Reading, Mason, and I recently hosted a pub quiz. We streamed it on YouTube, with around 100 people attending the live event and many more tuning in after.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMason and I are incredibly honoured to have been involved in such an important cause \u2013 we\u2019re a small cog in a massive operation \u2013 to reach our target of \u00a3150,000 to help Harry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Harry is overwhelmed by the support he\u2019s received so far: \u201cMy old boss who I used to do paper rounds for as a kid has been sending out flyers to his customers, there\u2019s fundraising activities taking place in Ireland and people are singing for me in the US.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt just shows there\u2019s a lot more kindness in the world that you don\u2019t normally see. It\u2019s a desperate situation, but sometimes those situations bring the best out of people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sinead agreed that the activity from the fundraiser has been really positive and uplifting: \u201cEven those who aren\u2019t in a position to donate have been sharing information and resources via the GoFundMe page. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been overwhelming coming up with a plan for Harry\u2019s treatment, so it\u2019s been great to have people pointing us in the right direction based on their own experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the timescales we\u2019re working towards with the clinic, we had set a target to raise 50% of the funds needed by the end of February, and the fact that we\u2019ve already achieved that is incredible.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe feel very fortunate to have a supportive community around us \u2013 from our families and friends at Reading, to strangers from around the world. This is a hugely challenging time for us and we\u2019re incredibly grateful for everyone\u2019s support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Find out more about Harry\u2019s story<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, CONNECTED was privileged to speak to three close-knit friends about their experiences at Reading, their individual journeys since graduating from university, and how they are pulling together to support each other through incredibly difficult circumstances. Transformative friendships University can be a transformative stage of a person\u2019s life, no more so than when we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":7373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,102,64,85,86,28,34,122,91,125],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power Of Hope - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CONNECTED speaks to three close-knit friends about their time at Reading and how they are supporting each other through incredibly difficult circumstances.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2021\/02\/26\/the-power-of-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power Of Hope - 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