July 2020, mid pandemic, the world was in turmoil and Nick Heather was about to receive news that would test his spirit, his character and his fight for life.
Picture this, you’re early 30s, prime of your life, no prior health issues and told by a doctor, you have a form of blood cancer, CML, chronic myeloid leukaemia. Managing that news was one thing but then shortly afterwards having run a few tests, the result comes back saying you also have ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and if you didn’t present yourself to hospital when you did, you would have been be gone in 2 or 3 weeks.
It is over a year since that diagnosis and I had a chance to sit with Nick over zoom and listen to his story in the hope to understand and learn more. Nick is known to his friends and colleagues as Mr. Positive and you’ll hear how a positive and optimistic mindset helped him and his wife Cat navigate through a life changing journey of healing.
He talks about surrounding himself with only positivity, he didn’t allow any negativity in because for Nick, he was going to beat his cancer.
But Nick needed help from others. He required bone marrow transplant, and little did he know that his wonderful sister Sarah-Jane would be a 100% match.
On top of that what was unearth in the story is the power of kindness and being a good person to others. You’ll hear how a remarkable act of kindness helped save Nick’s life.
Nick’s love for his wife Cat is so evident and he describes how she is the most influential and inspiring person in his life.
Through his long lasting friendships Nick’s sign off through his treatment he continued to revert to one phrase
“Keep your pecker up”
Nick Heather
This became the go to phrase and so much so, #KYPU is trending online and now Nick and his wife Cat have created a clothing brand where all proceeds go to charities.
You can find out more about Nick and his clothing company KYPU at https://kypu.com.au/ or visit their Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/kypuclothing/
