“Meeting Ciara has shown me that everything, even cancer, can have a positive side - if I hadn’t been ill, we wouldn’t have met”
All of Harry Simpson’s Christmases came at once when he rang the hospital bell to signal he was in remission from cancer, on December 28.
Struggling to keep-up playing football and suffering with night sweats, he presumed burning the candle at both ends had finally got to him. When he started losing weight, Harry headed to his GP. Antibiotics did nothing so the GP ran blood tests - but by now Harry was deteriorating so fast he struggled to climb the stairs.
During this gruelling recovery period, Harry grew even closer to Ciara, despite her being 150 miles away in Edinburgh. Harry adds: “We started talking every day and all I could think about was talking to her.” Finally, this January Harry and Ciara met up in Edinburgh for five magical days together. On the three-hour drive from the ferry port to the Scottish city, they chatted as if they had known each other for ever. Harry says: “I was still really sick but we went for dinner even though I couldn’t eat. But she made sure I was okay and supported me the whole time and didn’t make a big deal of it. I couldn’t do much but even just a small walk and a coffee was amazing.
The pair plan to move in together in Belfast later this year, and Harry is on track to return to work in September. He adds: “I really do believe positivity breeds positivity and I’m looking forward to the future. I feel incredibly grateful to my sister, to Ciara and for life.”
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