Diagnosed nine months ago with Acute Lymblastic Leukaemia, we follow Marcus as he organises a charity gig with his band, Mexicofallz to raise not only money, but also awareness of the disease. As a way of saying thank you to everyone, with the help of family members and friends, he sets about raising money for the charities that have helped him along the way, including CLIC Sargent, Sue Ryder Care and The Teenage Cancer Trust. Marcus’s dad explains the importance of continuing with hobbies, if possible, to regain normality and talks about his own experience of having a child with cancer. Marcus talks about the shock of being diagnosed, however friends and family are at hand to praise him for the strength and maturity he has shown throughout his treatment.

As Gavin reflects on his experience with cancer so far, talk soon turns to the vast array of people who have worked with him during his treatment. From consultants to CLIC Sargent, Gavin and his mum manage to draw up a hefty and detailed list of all the important people who have helped him along the way and at times, managed to take his mind off things. Gavin’s mum talks about the importance of giving blood and advises people to give it a go, whilst Gavin is busy testing the stress levels of the nurses! After finding out he is neutropenic and in need of another platelet transfusion, Gavin goes through some of the side effects of having low counts, one of the worst being no Chinese takeaways!

It’s another busy week for Bonnie as nights out with the CLIC Sargent team and show rehearsals are only a few of the things listed in her packed social diary! As she begins to get chemo out of her system, Bonnie experiences a few nasty side effects including back pain and jitteriness, but carries on as usual and throws herself into other exciting projects. Next stop, the sea, where Bonnie tries her hand at sailing, and by the looks of things, is a natural! As the sunny weather continues, the party invitations are flooding in, as are lively renditions of unforgettable hits such as “Stacey’s Mom”, which soon gets the crowd going. After a manic week, Bonnie and her mum take a relaxing spa break and look forward to some luxury treatments….a well deserved treat I’d say!

In Bonnie’s latest video diary, we get an update on how treatment is going and she explains how she is trying to keep busy doing, in her words, “normal stuff” between chemotherapy. It’s all fun and games as she shows off her road skills on a night out with fellow cancer patients on a Formula One driving simulator, organised by the charity CLIC Sargent. Between organising sponsors for race for life and coping with the side effects of chemo, she gives some sound advice concerning benefits for patients and recommends to get ahead with the paperwork!

As part of the ‘Belfast City Hospital Journeys’- a series of short films created by young people in the hospital, this is Adel’s poem “Butterfly”. She describes how her time in hospital is similar to hiding away like a caterpillar, until the day comes when she can leave, spread her wings and transform into a butterfly.

This is the second of Gavin’s films and also another film part of the ‘Belfast City Hospital Journeys’ project, co-facilitated by Arts Care and CLIC Sargent. Here, we see a different look at living with cancer through a series of unusual images and graphics, complete with some recognizable hospital sound effects!