E26 Stuart Fay: Gemma's Story of Love, Loss, Grief & a Legacy of Giving

Stuart Fay is a fundraiser, walker and charity volunteer who, alongside his wife Rachel, has helped raise more than £50,000 for cancer charities.

But this episode begins with their daughter, Gemma.

Gemma was bright, driven, positive and deeply loved by the people around her. In 2020, she was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma and went through years of treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, major surgery, a hip replacement and a clinical trial.

Gemma sadly passed away in 2023, shortly after her 25th birthday.

In this conversation, Stuart shares who Gemma was beyond her diagnosis, what made her laugh, what she cared about, the memories that still make the family smile and the qualities that made her so special.

We also talk about the reality of supporting a child through cancer treatment, the impact it has on an entire family, and the support that helped Stuart, Rachel and Gemma through some of their hardest moments.

Stuart also explains how endurance challenges became part of his own journey, including walking 58km and 100km events along the Jurassic Coast while Gemma was still alive, and what those challenges meant to him at the time.

The conversation then moves into grief, what the first days and weeks after losing Gemma were really like, how Stuart and Rachel have supported each other, and why continuing to say Gemma’s name and talk about her remains so important.

We also discuss the fundraising and volunteering that has followed and the charities Gemma herself wanted to support, and how Stuart and Rachel have helped turn their experience into something that continues to support other families.

Alongside that, Stuart reflects on being recognised with Rachel as Fundraisers of the Year at the Salisbury Local Hero Awards, what that recognition meant to them, and why the support of the local community has mattered so much.

This is ultimately a conversation about love, grief, family, resilience and legacy.

It is also a chance to remember Gemma as a person, not simply through what happened to her, but through who she was, what she meant to the people around her and the impact she continues to have.

A deeply personal and important conversation!

Young Lives vs Cancer

https://donate.younglivesvscancer.org.uk/content-main/~my-donation?ns_ira_cr_arg=IyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIyPpWTwengvOkpP3nUXmjTP0g5-RWuJaGDuboSkTmPwQQxVXv35X72pbeHEnGrYT8rzGVnK1BjYwwOuIZ_FM_5ZazVPGMXxHkdLmaHZ1XyihO8I8dqxCWua07wFic54Bnp8XcKvPIcIiQNj4JCG4TLGkYkaMi_UWf5N2aDeFlXG1kynsrOV7ZKGBtil5rodKoW0v8aSA5OW7hnK1lXyT4GcAE8jKsdIiTycrtFokqjtRRZ4SSWfhXptiZgwI92Zz7Wq9FPVfo3a5BDSj8-TOqVENSkyQbWLS4ltYTW-UHPSe-OSYyVR92XmDiC8YTk5serCHta21R_Vhnnd3_vD-mbNm0kFqRujSYNdcyW1u35z704qtJyMEF5P4PMZTk400pZc&campaign_id=IALDCCBRA&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand_exact&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11996384337&gbraid=0AAAAAD6zvox6drJ9AxZQfPe3Pf1hWX-H1&_cv=1

Sarcoma UK

https://sarcoma.org.uk

https://www.youthcancertrust.org