Six months ago, my life changed dramatically. A year before I’d been told I had months rather than years to live. A throw away comment at a performance of Dead Good at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester in February led to me joining in the fun and taking on a part in the last performance of the show at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton on March 5th. It was one of the best days of my life and one I’ll never forget. Everyone made me feel so welcome and it was wonderful to feel part of the team.

I firmly believe that was the catalyst to my life changing, filling me with positivity. Subsequently my whole life has become “Dead Good!”

Dead Good gave me the confidence to return to the amateur stage when I performed in Under Milk Wood in May and am now working on Frankenstein in Colchester.

I now have a new lady in my life, Sue, and we’ve been to many plays, gigs and cinema viewings.

I am also fortunate enough to be the first man in the world to be given a stronger dose of a brand new immunotherapy drug which it’s hoped will harness my body’s defences and attack the cancer inside me, possibly even getting rid of it! Blood tests have shown that it looks as though something positive is happening and next week I’m having scans to see what’s going on inside me! I have everything crossed!

I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. It turned out that Sue has a daughter who is a very talented but undiscovered artist. She has illustrated some children’s stories I’ve written, inspiring me to write more, and now I’ve had them printed into a book!

We recently went to the Toby Carvery in Colchester and bumped into the singer of one of my favourite bands, the Wandering Hearts and had a great chat with Tara. Another coincidence! One of their songs is Dolores with the line, “Everyone has something inside, you know nothing about!” Such a poignant lyric and so true for me!

Since Dead Good my life has been filled with positivity and I’m feeling very opTIMistic about my future life. Even my name’s in the middle of the word!

Thanks Honor and Rachael for believing in me and starting me off on this incredible journey! I’m really looking forward to seeing Vamos in their next show!

Tim Strugnell, September 2022