Fraser Thorogood - The Boy Next Door

My mantra of ‘everyone has a story, just speak to the person next door’, has never held more significance for me as it did this week. Because directly though my wall, just across my garden fence, my next door neighbour is about to start the next chapter in his young, yet already momentous, life.

Fraser Thorogood, like many of his mates, is preparing to leave home for the first time as he heads for Edinburgh and a degree course in Architectural Engineering at Heriot Watt. Unlike most of them however, this won’t be the biggest challenge our 18 year old hero has faced. Just one week before he turned 16, Fraser was diagnosed with Lymphoma Non-Hodgkins disease, a blood cancer similar to Leukaemia.

Following the shock of the diagnosis, in rapid succession he was given an operation to remove the tumour, a stem cell transplant and the strongest type of chemo currently available in the UK today. To add horror to this already unrelenting process, he also spent three weeks in isolation after a recurring infection threatened his recovery. In short, Fraser spent the year that should have been set aside exclusively for ploughing through Highers and blagging his way into pubs with a fake ID, undergoing a punishing course of treatment which had, at best, a 33% survival rate.

Of course, you already know this story has a happy ending, and I can’t begin to tell you how good it is to see this tall, laid-back, young man kick about the doors with his friends, full head of hair and a happy, relaxed family by his side. He was straight back to 6^th year at Perth High School, nailed all of his Highers in one year, got a part time job in the co-op and as I explained at the start, is about to leave home to start the next chapter of his story in Edinburgh.

So far, so bloody amazing! But before he heads off, Fraser is planning a fundraiser for the Haematology Department at PRI. Along with three of his best friends, his Dad, step Dad and other members of his family, Fraser is walking twice around the beautiful Loch Leven which amounts to 26.6 miles – or just over a Marathon. Team Fraser hopes to raise £1000 to help the ward that nursed him back to full health and I’m certain we can all help him smash that target! Click here to leave a donation.

Both during Fraser’s treatment and the aftermath of it all, his Mum Allie and stepdad Nick would chat about how he was and how things were going. The truth is though, I’ve never spoken to Fraser about it before now; it always seemed so intrusive. But as we’re all hanging about Friar Street, taking photos of him and his pals who are joining him on the walk, we get to chatting about life on his side of the fence.

“It’s all really clear. My Mum says for her it’s a bit of a blur but for me it’s still very real. The cancer was really aggressive but in the end that made it easier to treat. And even though they said I only had a 33% chance of survival, I never once thought I might die. I didn’t worry at all that I might not make it. It does change who you are though.”

Allie tells me he is more assertive, more certain of who he is. Arguably, this could be an age thing but I tend to think that people who come through life-threatening situations, be that disease or catastrophe, have an enviable, liberating perspective on things. To start your adult life with this… well, that has to be his hard-won silver lining.

Fraser’s pals are typical teenagers; he and Reiss have known one another since nursery but didn’t come together as good pals until P7 and were joined by Craig and Jason in first year. I ask the trio in front of me about the training for the walk and after a few, quick, conspiratorial glances between themselves, I’m met with that glorious ‘we can do anything’ attitude of the young; and they agree that the walk to the pub is probably as much as they’ve done! When I question how long they think it’ll take, they hazard a guess at ‘a few hours’. However, when I pose the question of why they agreed to join Fraser, there is a more definite answer from his friend Reiss Pitcaithlly; and it is the one with which I shall close.

“Everyone says things like ‘you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone’ and when he was ill we all suddenly knew what that meant. It’s friendship, isn’t it?”

*****

If you’d like to sponsor Team Fraser then click through to his Just Giving page and pledge your donation for PRI Haematology Department. Businesses can also sponsor the water and power snacks they need for their walk – email his Mum, Allie, if you’d like to offer support in this way.    

Pictured are Fraser Thorogood, Reiss Pitcaithlly and Craig Young. Other team members are friend Jason Fleming, Dad Tim Thorogood, Step-Dad Nick Arthur, Uncle Chris Waite and Step-Gran Beatrice Arthur. ‘Mon the Walkers!