'The whole trip shows you that your life is not over when you get cancer' says young cancer survivor

Adam Reilly, 25, was diagnosed with germ cell cancer in 2023. After losing his grandad to cancer in April, he set sail with the charity last week to honour his memory and keep a part of him with him.

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust takes young people aged 8-24 on sailing and outdoor adventures to inspire them to believe in a brighter future living through and beyond cancer.

Adam said: “I had germ cell cancer, which I’d never heard of prior to my diagnosis. I was in denial for the first part of it. Even after I had an operation to remove an initial tumour, it still didn’t really settle in until I got my date to start chemotherapy. That’s when it all hit me at once.

“It was the last thing I was expecting when I went to get checked up on. At worst, I thought it was appendicitis because the pain was in my abdomen. It was really a shock to the system.

“At first, I was hesitant about doing the chemo. My grandad had gone through cancer and chemo withered away his body, he was just a shell of who he was. I know he was much older, but that was always in the back of my mind.

“It hit him a lot when he found out I had cancer. He was the one I was closest with in my family. Unfortunately, we lost him in April. So, that was another reason I wanted to come on this trip and ultimately do this for my grandad, to honour his memory and keep him with me in some way.”

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.

Once their treatment has finished, they are often left with fewer friends and struggle with relationships, their education suffers, they miss out on work experience, and they develop body image issues. Late effects of being diagnosed young include infertility, extreme fatigue, osteoporosis, thyroid problems, and hearing or vision loss.

Adjusting to this ‘new normal’ can be extremely difficult, which is why when treatment ends, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s work begins.

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.

Reflecting on the difference that the support of the charity has made on him in just four days and his experience of being in the same boat as other young cancer survivors, Adam added: “I’ve always been very enclosed and an introvert so getting out of my comfort zone can be difficult at times. I’m not the most social person so I had some reservations, but I can’t fault a single thing that has happened during this trip.

“It’s helped me to share experiences with people who have also been in difficult situations and to know I’m not alone; it’s not an isolated thing. There’s some comfort and relief in that.

“The whole trip shows you that your life is not over when you get cancer. It’s just another hurdle to get through. But it’s really good to know that you can still get back on track and back into your own life.”

Adam was joined aboard by his oncologist, Jeff White, who volunteers with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. Seeing how far Adam has come since his treatment, Jeff said: “It’s brilliant to know that there’s a platform like this to give them a stepping stone to get their confidence up and give them new experiences in a really lovely and trusting and caring environment. It’s a privilege to see him in a different environment and getting back to normal.”

Founder and Patron of the charity, Dame Ellen MacArthur, said: “We see it time and time again. Young people arrive anxious and isolated. But they leave feeling part of something, accepted, independent, and optimistic.

“We are only able to support as many young people as we do thanks to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Because of them, thousands of young lives have been transformed after cancer through life-changing sailing and outdoor activity adventures.

“This summer we will welcome hundreds of young people from right across the UK who need post-treatment support. We will be there for them and they will 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.