Like just about everyone these days, Linus has first-hand experience of friends and family who have the disease. “My cousin died of bowel cancer aged just 53, and more recently I have had three very close friends all struggling with various cancers. Being close to them, witnessing and helping them try to navigate the daunting, complex world of treatments, institutions and mindsets is incredibly overwhelming. Each one of them are heroes to me and it has made me value the critical resource that an organisation like Yes to Life can bring to people who are trying to find their way with cancer.”
Linus said: “I’m delighted to be able to step into this new role as a patron. YTL is more than a great charity, it provides a way forward, to help empower people, confront cancer and say exactly what the charity is called …. Yes to Life.”
For Sophie Sabbage, Yes to Life is a lifeline for people with cancer. “This charity has so many benefits for cancer patients, but what I love most is that it supports us to direct our own treatment and make our own choices. We often get caught in the crossfire between orthodox medicine and complementary health, but Yes To Life helps people to take the complementary medicine route if they so choose, while providing vital information about best practice (and practitioners) in the process. It is also led with love, commitment and a deep understanding of how painful this experience can be.”
Sophie is a bestselling author, speaker, facilitator and patient activist. Following an incurable cancer diagnosis in 2014, Sophie became a passionate patient activist, helping cancer patients around the world to navigate the emotional challenges of the disease and take charge of their own treatment.
Through numerous appearances on national radio, including Woman’s Hour and a BBC World Service documentary, as well as television appearances with presenters such as Lorraine on ITV, Sophie is breaking new ground on how to deal with a cancer diagnosis.
Find out more about Sophie here
Like Linus, Sophie will be a figurehead for the charity and will help with the all-important business of raising funds to help others. Linus and Sophie join our existing patron Jerome Flynn.
