Life is terminal - it is our job to live it

Saturday 9th September 2023 marked the second anniversary of the passing of an inspirational young man, a man who Rob was lucky enough to interview back in January 2021, (series 2, episode 3.) It is an interview I will never forget as it changed my outlook on life forever.

Matthew Pullan was one of us, and a very special lad.

He was only three years old when they found the first brain tumour. Successful surgery removed the cancer, and he carried on growing up like a normal child. However, he was blighted with issues like hand tremors and difficulty in just simple things we take for granted like being able to balance without thinking.

Matt joined Radcliffe athletics club in 2019, still a teenager, and began putting most of us to shame with his 5k times.

As 2020 came in to view, Matt began to suffer with his balance quite seriously, so was sent for a scan, given his history. Sadly, it turned out to be another brain tumour.

Matt being Matt, decided that it was better that it was him than anyone else and he fought the good fight. He had surgery and 30 rounds of radiotherapy to which got rid of 99.9% of the cancer. Heartbreakingly, the 0.01% got into his brain stem and was inoperable.

Matt though, would not give up. He knew there was no rainbow to find, but he dedicated the rest of his life to raising money, along with his family, to cancer research. Despite being on daily chemo, he ran a mile a day to raise funds. Some days those single miles were extremely hard work for him, but he got out there and did it, even if he had to walk it.

Always humble, every message of support Matt got was reacted to with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment. He didn’t know quite how much he inspired people.

He was trying to juggle his running with obtaining his A levels and was hoping to go to university. Sadly, that would never happen, and Matthew Pullen lost his battle on 9th September 2021.

When I first listened to his interview, I am ashamed to say that I was thinking to myself, ‘why is this guy speaking so slowly?’ As the interview went on, I felt more and more humbled that I was listening to someone who was a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to be hearing his story.

‘Life is terminal, it is our job to live it’ was Matt’s motto, I’ve taken it as my own now.

#BeMoreMatthew

You can hear Rob's chat with Matthew by listening back to Series 2 Episode 3 of the podcast - Episodes | What The Fartlek