Oli's fight against Jerry!

‘Please mum, don’t be sad when I die,’ are words no parent should ever have to hear.Thinking back over 2025 this must be one of the most inspiring interviews I did, talking to a woman whose courage and resiliance appear boundless.How do you cope watching your teenage son’s life tick away after he is diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer? I really don’t know how I’d deal with that. For Claire Duffield though the final two years of her son Oli’s life were spent making memories, researching his condition to find out if there was anything more she could or should be doing for him. As a family there was laughing and crying then crying some more and laughing some more and making some more memories in the time they had left together.It was an honour to meet Claire and talk to her about Oli, about all he did and the people whose lives he touched in his all too short life. Scary too to reflect on how quickly a family afternoon watching football turned in to a full scale medical emergency.Stuart Baillie This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrustratedauthors.substack.com