Please help - holiday of a lifetime (ANDY HARRIES)

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Andy & Rachel

With a 7am check-in at Gatwick, I assume you guys will obviously be travelling up from the West Country the day before the flight.

Over the past few years, we’ve always spent the previous night to our flight at the Copthorne Hotel London Gatwick. It’s just off the next junction of the M23 – not much more than a 5 minute drive from the airport. The hotel offer free parking of your car while you’re away, with a shuttle service between hotel and airport. It makes the whole early-morning business a doddle.

Anyway, I thought it was worth sending a letter to the manager of the Copthorne telling him about your case. By return I’ve had a lovely letter, offering you a complimentary “Connoisseur” double room, plus dinner in their top Lion D’or Restaurant.

What a result! Thank you Copthorne Hotel. You can see what the hotel is like, Rachel, if you click here. Their main website address is http://www2.milleniumhotels.com but I’ve found the site's hotel search doesn’t always work, so the above link should take you to the Gatwick hotel page.

[Rachel Harries]

Steve - once again you have been amazing. What can we say?!

Andrew has had news this morning - I will email you when I get home from Bristol...

THANK YOU!

Rachel

[Brian Taylor]

Hello Rachel and Andrew!

I remeber you guys and I'm looking forward to see you in Tobago soon.
I'm sure we all can make this the holiday of a lifetime.
At the moment we have lots of rain, but we order sunshine for when you come. Please let us know, when you are arriving, so we can get in touch. Call us when you reached Tobago at 6867957 (my cell), so we can make plans...

Best wishes
Ali (Brian)

[James Blackshaw]

Hi Rachel and Andy,

Just to confirm our guys at Cantor Sport will sort the tickets for the cricket for you on 24th or 25th April or both if you wish. It is early days yet and tickets have not yet been released, so I can't give you concrete plans.

Please rest assured we will use our contacts to obtain the very best we can, for your comfort and enjoyment. Please do not hesitate to ask if there are any other special needs or requirements.

Good luck with everything else
Kind regards
James

Cantor Fitzgerald International

[Rachel Harries]

Thank you so much James. Steve had told me all about this already and we are so thrilled to know that we will be going to the cricket after all (it was a bit worrying, thinking that we might already have missed the boat, having been given flights etc etc).

You can join my long list of incredible people we have 'met' on this forum and in the world at large (!). Sometimes you see the best in/of people through the worst circumstances - I'm sure you know what I mean.

Thank you again for your very generous support. It is so much appreciated.

With very best wishes

Rachel

[Afzal]

Dear Rachel and Andy,

Through Steve, we have learned about your unique story and would like to say how nice it is to know that our little island means so much to you. When I relayed your story to our Secretary for Tourism Neil Wilson, he was touched and wanted to do something to make your dream trip even better. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to add the icing on the cake, as it were.

With best wishes,
Afzal Abdool
Manager Tourism Department
Tobago

[Rachel Harries]

Dear Afzal

Thank you for responding to my post. I don't think there's anything you could possibly to do enhance what is shaping up to be more than the holiday of a lifetime for us. Now that we have booked Coco Reef (through Virgin Holidays), I think it's all sorted for now.

Perhaps you could make sure the weather holds out for us? Or that the mosquitos leave me alone this time! Or even clear the shelves of rum punch so that I don't drink so much of it this time...

Seriously, we thank you so much for the offer and we really look forward to seeing you/your beautiful island next year.

Rachel

[Angela S]

Dear Rachel
Compared with everyone else's efforts this isn't very much but I do have a tip regarding mosquitos. A couple of years ago I read in a travel magazine 'to help prevent insect bites take ordinary vitamin B tablets a for a month before travel and whilst away.' I've tried this twice now, including Tobago last May and it worked. It might just have been a fluke but I can get bitten in December in the middle of London!
Have a wonderful time
Angela
PS Know this will appeal to many even more than Vitamin B, 'the article also said drinking beer helps'

[AndyHarries]

Hi all

I thought I would give you an update on our situation. It looks unlikely that we will make Tobago next year. My lovely husband is very ill and is now asleep more than he is awake. He has been told that there is nothing more that they can do for him; that there is no more treatment available and that the cancer has grown back...

I have seen and felt the tumour for myself this morning.

Andrew is an amazing person. He is strong, a fighter - an example to everyone who he meets. I will him mostly as a husband, but also as a confidante and as my best friend. He has been so supportive of my new business, of my torrid time at work over the last few weeks and he's a great dad to our baby who is now nearly a year old. Sure, miracles happen, but I think even we know that this time it's for real.

I would like to thank you all for your amazing support and offers of help. Andrew may go on for days/weeks/months, and I intend to make the most of every minute. Meanwhile, I intend to broadcast a message of love to everyone who crosses our path. And I will take my little boy to Tobago one day to tell him about where his mum and dad got married. What a special place it is!

Rachel

[Kirsten Giles]

Rachel

4 times I have tried to compose a message to post here and nothing sounds right.

All I can say is that my thoughts are with you all.

I so hope you and Andrew do make Tobago next year but some sort of miracle but if you don't, take your little boy and live your dream with him, your never know he could become a cricket fan as well!

Kirsten x

[Steve Wooler]

Rachel

What can I say? I'm gutted, to be frank! I'm not a religous person, but I hope and pray that all the hundreds of readers who have been following Andy's story focus their thoughts and try to somehow get our wishes and hopes through to him.

I'm sorry, that sounds rubbish. I know just what Kirsten means.

All our love, hope and best wishes

Steve & Jill

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Hi Rachel

I am so sorry to hear your latest news.

Please pass Andy our best wishes, and I hope you do bring your little boy to Tobago one day, to play with ours. If you don't fancy a large hotel then please be our guests, we'd love to have you stay and will look after you.

Best wishes

Glyn and Caroline

[Louise I]

Hi Rachel and Andy,

Love, prayers and positive vibes to you and your families. We are thinking of you.

Louise and Henry

[Kirsten Giles]

Hi.

Just thinking about Andy and Rachel Harries and wondered how they both are.

Kirsten

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Kirsten

I heard from Rachel just a week ago and her comment was that they were both fine and:

still pinning all hopes on April next year

I have taken the liberty of sending a copy of your post to Rachel in the hope that she may wish to provide an update for the many readers that raise this question in emails to me.

[AndyHarries]

(Rachel here)

Hi Steve et al

Thanks for asking after us.

I'm afraid that this week has been rather grim. After a lovely family party last weekend, on Tuesday night Andrew took a turn for the worse and is currently under the care of the local hospice. He is on high levels of fentanyl and morphine and in a considerable amount of pain.

We have no idea what the pain is - we are seeing the consultant tomorrow who will hopefully send Andrew for a scan. It could be the cancer growing, pushing into the nerves, or even shrinking (that would be amazing!), but we are keeping an open mind and calm until something has been confirmed.

In the meantime, there is the possibility that Andrew can go on 'phase one' drugs trials. There's only a 4% sucess rate and it would be at the Royal Marsden (a seven-hour round trip), so we'll see.

We have both found this week extremely tough, but we'll continue to fight, and continue to focus on Tobago

Please think of us (or pray, if that's your thing).

Best wishes

Rachel

[Glyn Kirpalani]

Hi Rachel

Sorry to hear about Andy's latest pain etc.

Probably a very silly suggestion (given your other family/child committments etc) but would it help all of you if you had somewhere to stay over night near the Royal Marsden rather than battle with that 7 hour trip?
If so, maybe a reader has a spare room or something, or runs a B&B nearby?

I heard once that some hospitals will help to accommodate immediate family too, although I expect that is for occasional nights in cot beds and not for any extended period of drug therapy? Tell us more if you get time, maybe someone will be able to help UK side.

Best wishes
Glyn

[Kirsten Giles]

Hi Rachel

Thinking of you both.

Kirsten x

[James Blackshaw]

Hi Rachel,

Sorry to see you are both having a rough time of it again

Fingers crossed for Tobago.
Cricket not forgotten

regards
James

[Barbara Mack]

Hi Rachel

Sorry to hear you are both having a rough week. I work at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital in London (just up the road from the Royal Marsden) - we certainly provide hospital accommodation for relatives of patients. I would be surprised if the TM didn't do the same.

If not, I am more than happy to provide hospitality to you if needed. I live South of the river so to speak, but only 8 miles from Westminster and very close to the South Circular (A205).

I hope things improve for you both.

Take care

From a Big Tobago Fan
Barbs