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Macclesfield Express

The lovely Macclesfield Express featured me and Don’t Call Me Brave on page two of last week’s edition.

The guys at the Macc Express are great. I had plenty of dealings with them over the years, not least when I did the PR for Macclesfield’s Barnaby Festival in 2014 (which is on again this year) and wrote numerous pieces for the paper each week.

Alas I take issue with the title of their piece (see below). I’m not brave! That’s the whole premise of my novel. Folk diagnosed with cancer deal with their diagnosis and treatment in the only way they know how. They have no choice but to get on with it, for better or worse. But we are frequently told, ‘you’re so brave’. To me, bravery is shown by people who have a choice. The man who throws himself into a river to save a fallen child; a soldier who chooses to fight for his country and saves his comrades; the police woman who put herself in danger to protect the public.

Cancer was foisted upon me. I did have a choice as to how I reacted towards my diagnosis; what treatments I chose to have; how to change my lifestyle to help myself get well. Some would disagree with my choices, some would applaud them. But I do not believe that these choices were ‘brave’. All I did was try to survive. I got lucky. I didn’t put myself out for anyone except myself.

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