When Life Goes Tits Up by Matt Brandon (Pre-order now + P&P)

A father’s promise to tell his brave daughter’s story – her humour, courage, and fight through breast cancer, relentless treatment, and impossible moments. It’s a raw, honest journey of love, loss, and resilience, revealing what families face behind closed doors… and the silver linings found in the darkest places.

FORWARD by Gavin A.Maggs – Chief Executive, Children with Cancer UK

This is not a sad story.  It is a story of a father’s love for his daughter, of the power of family, friends and community, of mental health challenges, a woman’s desperation to be a mum, and of how it is possible to turn inexplicable grief into purpose and hope.

As the Chief Executive of Children with Cancer UK I have had the privilege of meeting the family and friends of Sammy Jo, and on each occasion it has been humbling.  Out of darkness they have created light.

Through dedication, commitment and imagination they have raised more than half a million pounds for our charity, to fund research into paediatric cancer and support children and their families during and after their cancer treatments.  10 children every day are diagnosed with cancer, and out of those 10, 2 will not survive.

Of the 8 who do survive, 5 will do so with long-term effects of their treatments because of protocols that are forty years old and because they were treated by drugs that are designed for adults.  The work of the Sammy Jo Brandon Foundation enables us to accelerate progress towards a world where a child not only survives their cancer diagnosis, but thrives.

I encourage you to read this book. For anyone facing unimaginable circumstances, Matt’s story is a testament to the light that can follow the darkness and the profound hope that can emerge from pain. May it encourage you, as it did Matt’s family, to find your own purpose and perhaps even inspire your own fundraising efforts.

Matt’s voIce comes through loud and clear in this book, and he has important things to say about assisted dying, navigating the NHS, mental health among men, and the nature and strength of a father’s love.  He also has highly entertaining observations about hair, boobs, cannabis oil and the power of friendship – the tattoos that now adorn the bodies of family and friends are testament to that.

As is the tale of Sammy Jo’s funeral and the planning that went into it, as well as of all the individual boxes.  I’m not sure anyone could have predicted how much good, how much money would be raised in Sammy Jo’s memory, that started with £6,700 at her funeral.  I thank Robyn who came up with the idea for the Foundation, everyone who has supported the charity, and you for buying this book because the proceeds will come to Children with Cancer UK and our vision of a world where every child survives cancer.  Most of all I thank Matt for your honesty, for your bravery and your kindness.  You never forget the people who do the right thing.

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