Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
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Adrian’s message of
ADRIAN Mcaleese gave this interview at the Northern Ireland Hospice on January 23, 2018, believing he had about four days to live.
He was weak, in pain and exhausted but determined to leave behind an incredible but simple message that he asked to be published posthumously.
Adrian passed away peacefully in the early hours of last Monday, surrounded by people who loved him, not least his partner Tim Gough.
Tim told the Mirror after Adrian’s colourful funeral service on Saturday: “He spent the last 41 days of his life living, not dying, thanks to the help of the hospice. His sense of fun and mischievousness was with him to the very end.”
Adrian was given a shock diagnosis after suffering repeated chest infections. He was told he had terminal lung cancer.
But today he leaves Northern Ireland with a message of hope.
He wants to let people know cancer may be cruel and indiscriminatory but that he never had to compromise on life, and he was never beaten thanks to the love and support of his best friend and partner, Tim Gough, and his hospice family.
Adrian, 48, said: “I think I have about another four days left on this earth and then I will be walking through a door to another life, another world.
“Someone else will come into this room and on it will go. This is the reality of terminal illness, the reality of life and death.
“There is nothing glamorous about it but there’s nothing to be afraid of either and there’s a lot that is good.
“I know now that we have everything we need right here if we just know what to look for.
“The only thing I am really sad about is leaving my best friend and partner Tim and I’m worried about him.
“I ask everyone I trust to look after him. I whisper in their ear thinking he can’t hear me, but he does. I know he does and I know he doesn’t mind.
“He has been my strength and my support and I couldn’t have lived for this length of time without him. Every day his love for me has given me more time. But I am tired now and ready to say goodbye. Yesterday Tim met with me and my sister and they agreed to tell me that I had their blessing to go. “It was deeply emotional and very hard for them, but I feel like the decision has been made. “I am free now and I can go when I want. It’s in God’s hands now. “Before Tim said that, I probably felt I had to stay for him.
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