The Healing Power of Kindness

Greig was first diagnosed with cancer at the tender age of seven. Thankfully intensive treatment of his stage four kidney cancer led to a full recovery but many years later at age 30, he was diagnosed with a different cancer - bowel cancer, possibly caused by the radiation treatment he received as a child. The stress Greig underwent in relation to the second diagnosis was huge and even though he was given the all-clear with regards the cancer, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He says his experience with PTSD was worse than both of his cancers put together. However, somehow Greig managed to find a tiny seed of hope within himself and he ran with that. Setting off on an adventure trip around the world doing things that brought him joy, what started out as a bit of a bucket list trip, morphed into something else as he realised how connecting with others and helping those less fortunate was incredibly healing for himself. Not too long after this, fate played her mysterious hand and Grieg was introduced to his now wife, Jaimie Thurston who is the founder of the 52 Lives charity, which changes people’s lives using the power of kindness and community. Fast forward several years, Jaimie and Greig work together running this charity alongside their team, with Greig managing and delivering their Kindness Workshop programme, reviewing applications to The Kindness Fund and helping to develop their teaching resources. Between them they have won numerous awards with Greig named a Prime Minister’s Point of Light in 2019, and he also featured in The Independent’s Happy List in 2015, celebrating people who make life better for others. In this heartwarming conversation Greig and I discuss the challenges he has faced and how, more than any lifestyle changes, it has been love and kindness that has most supported his cancer recovery and allowed him to move beyond the fear and anxiety that took over his life after his second diagnosis. https://www.52-lives.org/ https://schoolofkindness.org/