The heartbroken partner of a woman who was given just a week to live has paid tribute to his "loving" and "selfless" girlfriend, who passed away from cervical cancer. Aidan Solan describes his partner, Alex Halley, as a "caricature of a good person" who was so caring that, when she received the awful news, she was worried to tell a friend whose mother had recently passed from cancer in case it upset them.
The couple, from London, had been celebrating a friend's wedding in Italy in August this year when the 27-year-old received a devastating phone call, the Mirror reports. The pair had planned to return home early from their trip because Alex had been feeling poorly with ongoing stomach problems.
She had been in pain for a while, but the couple could never have imagined the more serious reason behind her ailment. Alex had guessed that her poor health was a side effect of recently coming off the contraceptive pill or that it was possibly a cyst that could easily be treated.
Aidan said: "Your mind always goes to the most positive potential outcome," but only eight weeks after she was diagnosed, Alex sadly passed away at the age of 27.
Aidan recalls that Alex immediately burst into tears after hearing the news but that reality didn't hit him until a few days later. The 29-year-old told the Mirror: "I don't know whether it was a panic attack or what, but I was just hysterically, hysterically crying. I couldn't stop. It was just the realisation of what was happening [and it] setting in."
Aidan describes the next few months as being a "bit of a blur" as Alex went in and out of hospital before she was checked in as an inpatient five weeks before her tragic death.
Between Alex's devoted mother and Aidan, she had someone by her side at all times. Aidan recalled how admirable Alex's strength was in her last few weeks, as she stole the hearts of all the hospital staff. Alex worked for the NHS as an occupational therapist in a school for kids with physical disabilities and sensory needs, meaning she understood her illness far more than Aidan did.
Aidan said that the second month in hospital was more difficult as doctors struggled to successfully treat her but throughout it all Alex was "taking it on the chin" and remained strong until she was told it was likely she had at most one week left to live. Aidan said: "We got told on Thursday that it was terminal, and I said my proper last goodbyes then. I sat in the room with her, and played the song that we always joked would be our first dance at our wedding."
Aidan and Alex also spoke of her dream of building an accessible playground where children with disabilities could play with their friends and siblings. Alex vowed to make this a reality some day, starting with a fundraiser, which you can donate to here .
The following Saturday morning, Aidan tested positive for Covid-19 and was unable to go back into the hospital to see Alex, meaning he could only speak to her over the phone. Aidan said: "I was at home isolating, and I got a call from her. She wasn't really making that much sense. She said a few things that were probably just the morphine talking, and she told me 'I miss you', which was really nice.
"I texted her mum and said, 'Alex has come to, do you want to go and check on her?' Alex's mum said, 'She's not been conversational since pretty much Saturday'. The fact that she managed to get a phone, type my number in, and call me, I thought that was lovely."
A couple of days after the unexpected phone call, Alex sadly passed away in hospital. Aidan said he is struggling to come to terms with how only months before hand they had been holidaying in Italy where she'd been the "'life and soul of the party". Aidan fondly shared one of his favourite memories of Alex with his young godson, whose father sadly died in 2020, as he proudly says that her kind nature "would shine through".
He said: "You will genuinely never meet anybody who enjoys their work as much. She'd come home every night with a big beaming smile on her face, showing me pictures of pyjama day with the kids, or something funny that one of the kids had said. She'd found her calling as an occupational therapist, and working with these kids particularly."
Aidan is now aiming to continue Alex's legacy by making her dreams of an accessible playground for disabled children come true. He has currently managed to raise over £20,000 out of an £80,000 target.
Reflecting on what it would mean to him to create this playground, Aidan said: "Alex passed away at 27, but she had such a positive impact on people's lives, particularly these children but also anyone who ever came into contact with her. Friends, family, whoever that might be, would have experienced the Alex I'm describing to you.
“That caring, loving, selfless person. I see this as a way that could prolong the legacy that she was already building. "Her entire outlook on life was 'how can I help people?' The world would be a better place if there were more Alex Halleys."
You can donate to Aidan's fundraiser here
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