A Torfaen woman with incurable cancer has a “bucket list” and one thing she wants to do is “save someone else” through her story.
Sarah Myers, 52, is ticking watching Wrexham play football off her list next week – a team she fell in love with because of the hit TV series starring Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Earlier this week I met Sarah, and her husband Ady, in their Trevethin home, where they told me about being diagnosed with synovial sarcoma cancer– a rare cancer that attacks soft tissues and joints.
During our chat over a cup of tea, they laughed as they tried to count the number of Wrexham FC shirts they, their children, and their grandchildren own. They finally decided it was 25.
During early 2024, she felt “pins and needles” in her shoulders and following a doctor’s appointment, she was referred for “pain management” with a physio.
Ady saw her trip over in the house into a “padded chair” and said it wasn’t a heavy fall, but she said she was in “agony” and was later told it was “bruised ribs”.
In the following weeks, Sarah continued to have difficulty breathing and was sent for an X-ray.
They waited at the hospital for “hours” into the late evening and were told not to leave before a doctor talked to them about the results.
A doctor said: “We think it may be cancer”. The couple stayed overnight in the hospital to get a CT scan.
She had further scans, blood tests and biopsies that confirmed the diagnosis.
An attempt at surgery wasn’t successful due to the size of the tumour and the amount of blood the surgeon said she quickly lost.
Chemotherapy
Her last round of chemotherapy was in May. She had a CT scan in July and is waiting to start a new round of chemotherapy.
Ady said: “I can’t understand how somebody who is like you [Sarah] can be put through this because she’s beautiful inside and out. Whatever it is, whatever they say, we’ll deal with it together. We’ll get through it.
“She’s my penguin. You get one penguin and that’s it for life.
“I’ve been a wreck, an absolute wreck. I must have cried every day for eight months. She’s like, ‘Well, I don’t want this happening to anybody else, I need to do something’.”
Sarah said: “That’s my wish, to get it out there.”
They bought a van and covered it with stickers and information about synovial sarcoma cancer. Their travels around Wales attracts questions and conversations from passers-by.
Sarah’s adventures have included BMW racing at Castle Combe Circuit, a visit to Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm, a helicopter ride over Glastonbury, an 80s-themed fundraising night, and a cruise to Belgium.
Her “bucket list” also includes watching the Red Dragons play at the Racecourse Ground. This wish is coming true next Tuesday as she’ll be in the stands to watch them take on Hull City in the Carabao Cup.
Welcome To Wrexham
I asked what she loves about Wrexham FC. Sarah said: “We dropped into it [watching Welcome to Wrexham on TV] by accident. I just love the way they are. The atmosphere on there. The way they come across. It’s amazing what they’ve done. It’s so friendly.”
The couple feel that campaigning to help more people learn about the cancer keeps them positive through the dark times.
Ady said: “They wouldn’t use the word ‘terminal but it’s incurable, and the term they use is ‘this is not a fight we can win’.”
Sarah said: “It was the shock. I’m going up and down. I’m like a roller coaster. I can be fine.
“People are saying how well I cope, but I suppose I keep myself busy trying to campaign. My mind is always thinking ‘what can I do next to get it out there and help people?’.
“If people want to talk, reach out, I’m here, not just for sarcoma, for any cancer.” Sarah has set up a website and also shares fun videos on TikTok about her journey.
‘Bucket list’
Ady said: “All she cares about is someone reading her story and raising awareness to the point where someone can look and think ‘I don’t feel right’ and go to the doctors. She wants somebody to insist on a scan and find it early enough.
“We’ve got her bucket list of things she wants to do, and one of those is to save someone else.”
Sarah said: “That would be lovely.”
After the football match in North Wales , their next fun trip is to watch ABBA Voyage, the show in London where digital avatars of the iconic pop group perform alongside a live ten-piece band.
Last March, Ady, Jamie (Sarah’s daughter) and Ross (Sarah’s son-in-law) walked up Blorenge, Sugar Loaf and Skirrid- the Abergavenny Three Peaks- to raise money for Velindre Cancer Centre.
Ady and Sarah knew each other in school but didn’t start dating until 2015 and got married in 2019.
I spotted a couple of Wrexham AFC pillows on their sofa , so I asked Ady and Sarah to sit next to them (and two of their gorgeous dogs) for this photo