Crawley comedian Romesh Ranganathan surprises young people on Teenage Cancer Trust unit

Romesh, who has supported Teenage Cancer Trust for many years, met families being supported by the charity, and spoke to staff to learn more about how the charity is making a difference to teenagers and young adults in the area who have cancer.

Romesh, who used to be a teacher in Crawley and lives in the town, met 13-year-old Logan from Preston, who is having chemotherapy on the unit, after being recently diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called T-Cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Logan said he enjoyed meeting Romesh and that they chatted about their common interests including playing Fortnite, and One Piece – a Japanese anime TV series.

Logan was joined by his parents Jon and Nicola, who said they are fans of Romesh and watch him on the TV. Speaking about the support they’ve received from Teenage Cancer Trust, Jon said that despite Logan only being diagnosed a few weeks ago, the support they have received has been brilliant.

“The staff have the ability to humanise it all,” he said. “Not only do they explain the medical information in a way that everyone can understand, they also focus on the social side for the young

people who are on the unit.

“While having their treatment, the young people have the space to come into the social room, play games together, sit and chat and do normal things that young people like doing - that’s really important. As parents we are being supported too.”

The unit is based on Ward 3B in the Oncology unit at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and is designed for 13-19-year olds.

Nicola, who bonded with Romesh over their teaching careers, added: “By being on a Teenage Cancer Trust unit, it gives Logan an opportunity to meet other young people who are going through similar experiences and people his age, who he can speak to and relate to.

“As parents we can support Logan in every way possible but we don’t truly know what it’s like for him, so for Logan to be around other people his age, I hope that will be really helpful for him.”

As well as having a tour of the Teenage Cancer Trust unit, Romesh was challenged to a game of pool by 15-year-old Jack who is having cancer treatment on the unit.

Romesh, who asked Jack if he was the worst person he had played at pool, let the nerves get the better of him - resulting in him losing the game against the 15-year-old.

Faye Hindmarsh, a Teenage Cancer Trust Youth Support Worker, said the visit was a highlight for the young people on the unit. “Romesh was great with the young people and he gave them a real boost,” she said.

“Romesh is really down-to-earth, he got involved playing pool and got everyone laughing and chatting. Everyone had a really nice time and he’s welcome back anytime.”

Last year Romesh was announced as Teenage Cancer Trust’s first comedy Icon. The Icon role is for high-profile figures across the entertainment industry who have volunteered to give a year of their time to deliver transformational change for young people with cancer.

Reflecting on his visit to the unit, Romesh said it was an amazing opportunity to go to the unit and see first-hand to see what Teenage Cancer Trust has helped to provide and help fund for teenagers and young adults with cancer.

He added: “Meeting young people and their families was quite emotional because having cancer at any age is horrible.

“But having cancer as a teenager feels like a particularly cruel time for it to happen and what the charity is enabling to happen, is for those young people to go through that in a supportive and comfortable way possible.

“I am very grateful to Teenage Cancer Trust for what they do to help these families. It’s incredibly important work and the charity need as much help as possible.”

As part of his huge headline tour Romesh, has invited more than 150 frontline staff and young people supported by the charity to see his show for free - Alder Hey were one of the beneficiaries of this offer, seeing the show at Liverpool Empire after the visit.

Romesh will be supporting Teenage Cancer Trust, as well as suicide prevention charity campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), who he is Patron, throughout his UK headline tour HUSTLE by raising vital funds for the two charities.

To donate to Teenage Cancer Trust please visit: www.teenagecancertrust.org/romesh-ranganathan