Matt and his son Brock have taken part in Celebrate a Life since 2018. Every year they name a star for Bonnie, who was treated for breast cancer at The Royal Marsden before passing away in 2017. For Matt, naming a star is a way to continue Bonnie's legacy and a special tradition for him and Brock to feel closer to Bonnie at Christmas.
“Bonnie was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2010 when our son, Brock, was just over two and a half years old." Says Matt. "She received treatment local to where we live and afterwards was thankfully given the all clear.
However, in May 2013, Bonnie found another lump and after numerous scans, was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer which had spread to the vertebrae in her back. At this point we were told her cancer was terminal. In November 2014, Bonnie started experiencing issues with her stomach and a scan identified a mass in this part of her body too which was diagnosed as sarcoma.
Bonnie was then referred to The Royal Marsden for treatment and underwent surgery performed by Mr Dirk Strauss. He was a complete miracle worker and managed to remove the tumour completely. Despite the surgery going well and the chemotherapy treatment afterwards, the secondary breast cancer then spread to Bonnie’s liver.
I used to come up to The Royal Marsden every day to see Bonnie and I would bring Brock into the hospital to visit his mum. I eventually had to tell him that he wouldn’t have much more time left with his mummy, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do."
"The Royal Marsden is an incredible hospital and enabled us to have more time with Bonnie before she died in July 2017."
Taking part in Celebrate a Life
“When I heard about Celebrate a Life, I thought it would be a nice way to remember Bonnie near Christmas and a lovely way of showing our thanks to the hospital, as Bonnie spent a lot of time at The Royal Marsden and they gave us longer with her. The event is so lovely, it’s just such a nice place to be, standing outside with a hot drink and mince pie singing Christmas carols. More importantly, it’s a Bonnie type of place to be, she would have absolutely loved coming to this event."
“I very much want my son to continue his mum’s legacy and her life. I don’t want him to forget about her, so for me, Celebrate a Life is a great way to feel that he’s still connected to her."
“He loves having a star which is named in her memory and being able to search for this on the tree. It’s so important to us to go to this event so we can pay our respects and feel closer to Bonnie. For Brock, who is now 14 years old, being able to find Bonnie’s star on the tree just makes the whole experience so special.”
