I suppose I’m one of the lucky ones, you could say. I can say that I’ve never personally known anybody who has suffered from cancer. It’s hardly bragworthy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know anybody who has been through the agony that cancer can cause, and not just for those suffering from it. On a hugely personal level, my girlfriend Stephanie has been through it in a huge way, and it’s to her and to her mother I’m dedicating my efforts.

Read on for her story.

“When she found out, she didn’t tell anyone for a long, long time..I suppose my dad was the first to know, about two or three years before. My nan found out after a trip to Australia.” So recounts Stephanie, as she told me about her mother, Lee.

Born in 1952, Lee Morris (née Richardson) was diagnosed with breast cancer in the mid-1990s. Refusing to let the disease bring her down, she sought to make the most of her life by seeing the world. “She brought me to London, she brought me to Germany; she took a trip to Scotland, Wales..I think she went to Belgium too.”

At the time, 5-year-old Stephanie was completely unaware of her mother’s efforts to make the most of the time she had left. “We’d have mummy/daughter nights; we’d have a bath, she’d try and teach me the violin. We’d go out into the back garden and look at the stars. Every time I look up I’m reminded of her, but I can’t remember the constellations! Afterward, she’d bring me a Dr. Seuss book – they were her favorite books.”

“She made a promise to me: every year at Halloween we’d dress up like witches and go to every house..not long after, just a little before October, she was admitted into hospital.”

Lee was never able to go trick-or-treating; on November the 2nd, 1999, at about 9 in the morning, she passed away as she lost her battle with cancer. She was 42.

“She was so strong; she didn’t tell me just because, well, it’s not something she’d tell her 5-year-old daughter,” Stephanie recounted to me yesterday. “She was strong the whole way through.”

At the age of eight, Stephanie couldn’t grasp the concept of why her mother wouldn’t wake up, but even over time missing Lee has never been an easy ride. At the same time Stephanie has been sure to take her mother to heart. In her Confirmation at the age of 13, she chose to adopt the name of a saint with whom she felt a particular affinity: Saint Lee.

“I miss her every single day; I always think of what it’d be like if she was still here. She never shouted at me, she was always nice…I guess she knew her time was coming. Everyone loved her, everyone got along with her. ”

Cancer’s never an easy thing to live with, and on a sub-personal level I can vouch for this. For the kids at the Texas Children’s Cancer Center, it’ll be just as much of a struggle, and as someone who has experienced what it’s like to know people affected by cancer (which, unfortunately, is almost all of us) I feel even more inspired to put in my 24 hours tomorrow.

I’ll be doing it for the kids, of course. But I’m also doing it in memory of Lee and for Stephanie; suffering from cancer is one thing, losing your mother to it is another.

If you have anything to spare at all, there’s still a day to go before the big event. You can still sponsor me, or any of the other gamers taking part. If you feel like sponsoring me, you can do so right here. Thank you.

Big, huge thank yous to Stephanie for being able to tell me about all of this for the Extra Life cause. There’s not much out there that would’ve been harder, but you’ve shared your story and for that I’m proud of you; I’m sure your mum would be too.

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