The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is celebrating its biggest summer yet, after supporting 671 young cancer survivors nationwide.
Hundreds of young people sailed out of East Cowes Marina and Largs Marina between May and September as part of a programme of 4- and 5-day sailing adventures that inspire young people living through and beyond cancer to believe in a brighter future.
Twenty-year-old Sophie Williamson, 20, joined one of these transformational trips in July, after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021.
She said: “I came out of treatment, and I had a couple of months, then I got sepsis from COVID. So, I couldn’t walk or talk or do anything for myself and that was really difficult. I had to have a hospital bed at home and sleep in the living room and I was in a wheelchair.
“It took a long time to recover, but when we were out here on the boat, I was just thinking while we sat out on the deck, ‘oh my God, how are we here right now?’, and about how far we all must have come to be able to sail all the way from Yarmouth back to East Cowes. It was amazing. It just fills me with so much joy that I’ve come so far and that we’ve all come so far. From our treatment and our recovery. It made me feel really grateful to be alive and to be here.”
Cancer can have a big impact on a young person’s mental wellbeing beyond treatment, and what happens afterwards can often be as difficult as treatment itself – if not even more so. This is not understood or talked about as much as it should be, leading young people to feel like they are the only one finding life after cancer just as hard.
Adjusting to this ‘new normal’ can be extremely difficult, which is why when treatment ends, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s work begins.
Reflecting on her sailing adventure, Sophie said: “Treatment is hard, and you’re stuck in the hospital, or in a day unit. You’re surrounded by people who are perhaps older than you. And it’s so lonely.
“So being out here, in the fresh air, and not in a pressurised room, in nature, no four walls, I feel completely engaged in what I’m doing. And just being able to have an opportunity that you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t had cancer, it’s lovely to know that there are positives that can come out of such a horrible thing.
“It really helps build up that confidence that, you know, you can do it. Because it is quite a big thing to take on, being on a boat you don’t know anything about. You’ve got all these different ropes, all these different things like the winch and ready on starboard, ready on port. Then you have to wrap the rope around.
“It was just such a rush doing it all. And being able to change the sails and everything. It was amazing. I just can’t believe it, I was like, oh my god, I’m on a boat and I’m doing it all. It was awesome.”
Through the charity’s sailing and outdoor adventures, young people gain a new sense of purpose and self-worth, rediscover their independence, and feel optimistic about what comes next in life. They realise what they are capable of, stop feeling like ‘the only one’, and their mental wellbeing improves.
They start to re-establish their purpose and place in the world and believe in a brighter future.
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is there for anyone looking for support, no matter how long off treatment they are. Visit ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org or follow @emctrust on social media.
