Nearly 1 in 2 of us in the UK will face cancer in our lifetime. This month, Dr Rosalind Watts opens the territory of cancer, not the medicine, but the loneliness, the fear, the missing village, and the connection that can hold us through it. In this first episode, Ros sets out the ground for the month and shares a personal story. Her cousin Tom was diagnosed with a rare cancer at ten and died at 13. His mother, Ros's aunt Amelia, speaks about walking him through it, the night he died, the community that held her, and a connection to him that has never ended. Please note: this episode holds the story of a child who died of cancer. If you have lost a child or are going through serious illness with someone you love, please go gently and see the support resources below.

Amelia's shared crossing
Witnessing part of Tom's journey as he died is what researchers call a shared death experience. Her account is part of the work of the Shared Crossing Project, founded by William Peters, whose book is At Heaven's Door (2022): https://www.sharedcrossing.com

The prayer Ros mentions: The reimagined feminine Hail Mary comes from Way of the Rose, by Perdita Finn and Clark Strand and the community they founded: https://wayoftherose.org. The words Ros says are her own remembered version.

References

UK lifetime risk (Cancer Research UK): https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics
The Watts Connectedness Scale (2022): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-022-06187-5
Psilocybin for cancer distress, 2016 trials: Johns Hopkins, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881116675513, and NYU, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5367551/
MD Anderson psilocybin nerve-damage trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07227909
Katherine MacLean's Being Ground: https://www.katherinemaclean.org

Support lines
Cruse Bereavement Support (UK): 0808 808 1677. The Compassionate Friends, for bereaved parents (UK and US): tcf.org.uk, compassionatefriends.org. Macmillan Cancer Support (UK): 0808 808 00 00. CancerCare bereavement counselling (US): 1-800-813-4673.
In crisis: Samaritans (UK) 116 123. In the US, call or text 988.

ACER Integration: https://acerintegration.com/
Submit a question for the Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/jVcGniTN3uS1bjz18

Next week: Ros is in conversation with ACER members Rebekah, who is living with metastatic breast cancer, and Kim, whose son survived cancer. Both describe psychedelic experiences that helped them find connection in the hardest times.