Don’t Stop Me Now
Surprisingly, our team didn’t take home the title of Best Dressed but we did win the Wooden Spoon!
Funny Boy here, I felt compelled to step in and write a blog because I don’t think Heather will reveal what happened last week...
It has been a very busy summer for Heather. Not satisfied with organising the annual STICK IT TO CANCER (SITC) tournament, she took on the challenge of organising 2 additional events.
In between the hockey festivals we flew to Canada to celebrate the wedding of Heather’s brother, Gareth and the lovely Katie. It was an incredible trip and we returned refreshed, if slightly jet lagged.
We arrived at 9am on Monday morning and from the moment our flight landed Heather opened her TO DO LIST for the final Stick It To Cancer tournament.
Heather works on STICK IT TO CANCER throughout the year. She has a GANTT chart, a mood board and is constantly considering new opportunities to improve the event and ultimately raise more funds. I, too had been preparing for SITC - My preparations started about 6 months ago.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with SITC, it is a fancy dress hockey festival. The tournament offers prizes for the Champions, Best Dressed and Spirit of Stick it. Determined to be a contender for Best Dressed I decided to dress as one of my all time heroes - Mr Freddie Mercury. In order for it to be convincing I knew I needed to grow a beard for the sole reason of having a real moustache. So as of January my prep began.
I knew Heather wasn’t fully on board with my new look. As Gareth’s wedding drew closer she said to me “the photos from the wedding will be around a long time, are you sure you want to look like that?”
I considered what she said, but while Heather had been making spreadsheets, recruiting volunteers, contacting donors and managing social media I had been doing my prep; pushing the follicles out of my face was hard work.
The eve of STICK IT TO CANCER arrived. Heather and I woke early with a busy schedule of moving equipment, setting up the pitches and one final shopping trip. When we finally arrived home I knew we wouldn’t be going out again. I decided it was time to kiss the beard goodbye and style my Mercury moustache. I stole Heather’s mascara and blackened my new tash and eyebrows. It’s fair to say the results were ridiculous; My hair bleached blonder than usual from my two weeks in the Canadian sun contrasting with my new matt black moustache and eyebrows.
The preparations were complete and Heather seemed happy so there was nothing left to do but relax. We snuggled up on the sofa with Parsnip and put on the TV.
All of a sudden Heather sat up and repeatedly told me she felt dizzy. She was conscious and talking but as she got up to walk her coordination was missing. She continued talking but nothing she said made sense. It took me a good few minutes to realise that Heather was having a seizure.
So it is 11pm on the night before SITC and I had no choice but to take her to hospital.
It took Heather about an hour before she started to feel better. She couldn't remember how she got to hospital or indeed anything in between.
As usual the staff at St John’s hospital were amazing. They spent a few hours performing various tests on Heather. As she started feeling better and began to realise what day it was Heather quickly focussed on the hockey tournament (which was due to start in a number of hours) and started pleading with the doctors to let her go. SITC is arguably one of the biggest days of the year for us, Heather was desperate to be there.
Heather has a team of amazing volunteers and a committee that help with planning the tournament, but she is responsible for a lot of what happens on the day.
I had the startling realisation that if I had to lead the event on her behalf then the only work I had done was growing a moustache. This leads me onto another point: Once again I am back at St John’s hospital in the early hours of the morning supporting Heather. This Accident and Emergency Department is now the scene of just a few of my less-than-proud moments; passing out and cracking my head open was pretty spectacular and on another occasion I vomited all over the back of an ambulance. The staff seem to remember us but thankfully on this occasion I did not faint or feel the need to be sick.
Determined to be a good husband and leave with a good reputation this time, I stuck by Heather’s side. Unfortunately the seizure left Heather unsteady on her feet so I escorted her to the toilet. Within the cubicle I glanced in the mirror and to my horror saw a slightly altered looking reflection staring back. A small peely wally bloke with very blonde hair, black eyebrows and a large black handlebar moustache.
Once again, I looked like a total muppet.
Back in the hospital bay and after completing the numerous tests the consultants agreed Heather could return home, provided she was with a responsible adult. The doctor’s tone suggested this was more of a question, rather than an acknowledgement of my presence. I then explained the reason for my strange appearance to which he replied “I did wonder what that was all about”.
We left the hospital at 3 am.
The next morning we were up at 6.30am and set off as planned. Heather insisted on going but I did make her promise that she would go straight back to hospital if she felt unwell.
Then Heather did what she always does, she threw her cape over her shoulder and flew over to East Fettes Avenue. Nobody at SITC would know that her super powers had been temporarily affected by a dose of kryptonite the night before.
Being a fancy dress tournament there were a lot of people dressed as super heroes. Little did they know a real one was selling their raffle tickets, making the day run on time, oh and raising over £10,000 for Maggie’s!
Plans for 2020 are already underway. If you would like to be part of STICK IT TO CANCER next year please follow FUCANCER to be kept updated on all the events.