Moving memorial for much loved head teacher
THE family of a much-loved Gateshead head teacher have joined the hundreds paying tribute to blood cancer victims with a very special memorial.
This weekend, blood cancer charity Bright Red invited around 600 people to plant trees at the Northumberlandia site, near Cramlington, Northumberland.
In socially distanced ceremonies spread across the weekend, friends and relatives of those lost to diseases like leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma planted around 100 trees near the ‘ Lady of the North’, raising thousands of pounds for the research and support charity in the process.
Among those planting a tree was the family of Alan Sergison, a teacher who dedicated his career to improving education in Bensham, Gateshead, and who was well-known as the former head of Kelvin Grove Primary School.
Alan was diagnosed with myeloma when doctors discovered the sore back he’d developed after lifting a sofa was in fact a telltale sign of the difficult-to-treat bone marrow cancer, which affects the production of healthy blood cells. He died in January 2019 at the age of 68.
Alan endured an eight-year battle against the disease, facing difficult treatments with a smile, and taking part in vital research set to save lives in future. Having retired from teaching, Alan was still delivering educational consultancy courses right up to the end of his life, refusing to let the cancer stop him doing the work he loved.
His daughter Vashti, 34, said: “Dad was an amazing man: he was so caring and so charismatic, he looked after
everybody. He remembered every single child he had ever taught, and could tell you stories about them, because he genuinely cared.
“He was so brave, even when he was at his most unwell he would never complain, he always had a smile on his face. He inspired us all so much.
“After he died, one of his friends described him as a ‘life enhancer’ and that was just a perfect way to describe him. He had so much impact on so many lives.”
After the death of the beloved father and grandfather, his wife Vanda and daughters Vashti, Lucy and Amy raised around £10,000 for Bright Red with the help of family and friends, and they’ve continued to support the charity to this day. As well has helping patients and families, the charity funds studies into blood cancer therapies and cures, including a trial of CAR-T cell therapy which Alan participated in.
Vashti said: “The support they gave dad and our family was amazing.
“The nurses funded by Bright Red at the Freeman Hospital were incredible, their knowledge and the respect and support they showed
dad.
“They are a really small, local charity, and without the research they fund we wouldn’t have had dad with us for eight years like we did.”
For the Sergison family, the treeplanting ceremony, for which participants donated around £45 to Bright Red, was the ideal way to honour Alan.
“My dad loved gardening, so this was perfect for him,” she added.
“It’s like a sort of Christmas present for dad from mum and my sisters and me. It’s a nice time of year to do it because you are always thinking of loved ones at Christmas and dad is on our minds a lot at the moment.”