When docs told me I had two years to live, I said it would be the start of my life, not the end
We cranked the music up, had a few drinks and drew
HILL DO IT! On Tour de France route
WHEN Paul Jameson was told his days were numbered, he drafted a mega bucket list – and after that low moment has experienced incredible highs.
Adventurer Paul vowed to make the most of every minute after learning he had terminal motor neurone disease and being told he had just a few years to live. After breaking the news to family, Paul asked his wife Jess and their three children to help draw up his ultimate wishlist.
Paul, 60, said: “I simply said to them that I want this to be the start of my life, not the end.
“They all understood straight away what I meant. That evening we had a few too many drinks, cranked the music up and started making a list.”
That was in 2017. Since then the entrepreneur has exceeded the average life expectancy of two years and his list of more than 50 achievements in 42 months is staggering.
That first year he climbed 19,340ft Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with Jess, 56, son
David, 27, daughter Jo, 25, and friends. Near the summit they marked out a court to play the highest recorded game of tennis.
He also helped an orphanage and a school in the East African country. Endurance athlete Paul – a marathon runner and cyclist who has tackled Tour de France routes – rode 110 miles in a day in Switzerland and completed a 100km walk across the South Downs.
Then there was trekking in Borneo, cycling in Vietnam and a lads’ holiday to Las Vegas.
He went to
Japan and Russia to watch England play in the Rugby and Football World Cups.
He, mum Shirley, 83, and daughter Rosie, 19, had matching tattoos saying: “One life, live it”.
Paul – who founded the Mankind range of male grooming products – was diagnosed with degenerative neurological condition MND in June 2016. He had problems swallowing and was slurring his speech.
Jess, a GP, had suspected the worst. When given the news at the Royal Surrey Hospital,
PAUL JAMESON ON NIGHT HE TOLD KIDS ABOUT MND
they both broke down. Paul said: “At first it was shock and anger – but then I realised what an amazing opportunity this was.” It was climbing some of the world’s most iconic peaks that reaffirmed Paul’s love for life – and made him think yet more closely about death.
Descending 15,774ft Mont Blanc in the Alps almost ended in disaster. Paul, from
Godalming, Surrey, said: “I almost fell to my death on Mont Blanc and couldn’t quite reach the summit of the Matterhorn – I realised if the MND didn’t kill me, the climbing would.”
Paul, who now communicates via a type-to-speech app, has raised over £150,000 for charity.
He has just “sung” an opera with a baritone at the London Coliseum, home of English National Opera, another dream come true.
And last April Paul was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Honours List. By this time he had set his sights on doing “something bigger and better” with the time he has left.
He said: “Those near-death experiences really made me realise, ironically, how unprepared I was for dying – my bucket list had distracted me from what was right in front of my face.”
Paul arranged another family meeting and shared his thoughts. He added: “I told them what I wanted at my funeral, that I was writing them each personal letters to open once I’d gone, how I’d sort the practicalities for after I’d died – and it struck me nobody had suggested this to me in the years since my diagnosis.”
Paul hit upon the idea of a website where people can curate their life story, with text, images and video. He raised £180,000 from crowdfunding and private investors and, after more than a year in development, the family last month launched the free website, called Aura.
Users can create time capsules to be opened later, there is a hub with facts and advice, and visitors to the site are encouraged to talk about death.
The family also set up Facebook groups Grief Chat and Death Chat, so people can discuss dying without the usual taboos.
Paul said: “Aura’s more than just tying up loose ends, it’s about positively engaging with impending death.
“Death should be a celebration of life, not something we avoid discussing like a bad smell. I might only have a few months, or a few years, left. When I’m gone I want to feel proud of what I’ve left behind, how I’ve inspired others to embrace life and also death.
“As our motto goes, ‘One Life, Live It’.”