Alex Lewis: 12/02/89-17/02/2011 R I P

[Logicalman]

On the second anniversary of Alex's death, and especially in the circumstances we seem to have found ourselves by way of form and position as a club, it seems to pertinent and fitting to post this thread.





Alex Lewis, one of our very own Fulham Family, died two years ago from Cancer. His last year (or so) was chronicled in the short film, Alex: A Life Fast Forward.


If you have never seen this film then I might suggest you should do, not only is it about one of our very own, but when life just seems to heave everything on top of you, this will bring it into perspective.

With respect of him, I asked Andy Lewis (Alex's father) permission to post this thread, and he kindly provided such.

The following is the write-up by the Guardians Sam Wollaston in review of the film, and perfectly encapsulates my own thoughts.


In anyone else, Alex Lewis's positivity might get tiring. In him it's extraordinary. Alex – subject of Alex: A Life Fast Forward (BBC3) – has bone cancer. At 21 he is dying. He doesn't shy away from this, casually chats away over an ice-lolly in the garden about wanting to be cremated and have his ashes scattered at Craven Cottage. But God does he make the most of what time he has.

To begin with this means living out a kind of Pepsi Max dream – skydiving, dune-buggying, tombstoning, breaking keepy-uppy records, dancing, frolicking, always surrounded by lovely, happy, beautiful friends. When he wakes up in the morning he thinks: "What am I doing today? Oh I'm having a good day." And if he's having radiotherapy that day, well at least it's not chemotherapy, that's a lot worse.

A family friend, a doctor, puts it nicely. "He doesn't feel he needs to live it as an illness, he needs to live the wellness of his life," he says. "You know the glass is half full as opposed to half empty. And I think he sees his as not just half full but actually there's something that makes it bubble up a bit more, it's got a bit of froth on the top as well."

Everything Alex does he does with a huge, winning smile. He smiles with his whole face, especially his eyes.

Can that really be morphine he's taking? Or is there a whole lot of MDMA in there as well? And then Ali shows up on the scene. Sweet, strong, lovely Ali. They have a snog, something clicks, Alex realises that he wants to spend the rest of his life – what little there is left of it – with Ali. The title of this film might be slightly awkward but that's how it is, Alex's life is on fast forward; it's all there, just quicker. They fall in love and get engaged, which is both brilliant and very sad, because now someone else is going to have a big hole in their life when Alex dies. And from this point the lump in my throat, which has been coming and going, is there to stay. By the end – with Alex's rapid deterioration, the wedding rushed forward, a beautiful groom's speech (recorded because Alex is now too weak to speak), the inevitable postscript – I'm a gibbering wreck.

But – and this will sound absurdly soppy and corny of course – this is an uplifting film as well as a very sad one. It's beautifully done, intimate without being intrusive, and seems to be a good idea – maybe even focusing – for Alex and his family as well as for the viewer. Inspirational too, and that's because of Alex's amazing attitude. Perhaps, given that we're all dying, just at different rates, we could all do with a bit of Alexness. I'm going to give it a go. So I've got the dentist tomorrow; but I'm thinking, brilliant, at least it's not the electric chair. Then I'll probably do a bungee jump and get engaged. Well, a bungee jump anyway . . .






...

[jarv]

Lost for words. Struggled to get to the end of it. What a great lad.

[OtterFFC]

Inspiring and tragic at the same time . . . Very moving

[..Kya.ffc..]

In a world where cancer have become so invasive, that statistically almost anyone have someone in their familiy affected by it at some point.

This film shows how cruel a disease it really is. But also conveys the spirit of will, love and in it self - life. May you rest in peace along with the many others out there who have been lost over the years to cancer, or any other sickness.

Let's hope that humanity soon finds, at least a way to contain this awful disease.

What is life all about? Well one answer could well be: To do what you can to make the best of it. Alex Lewis was one of those that the rest of us can inspire from when it comes to that.

[SKSW6]

Remember watching this when it first came out and it was really touching. It's nice to think one of his last games was that Villa home game where Brede scored with practically the last touch of the game as well. I'm gutted I never met Alex at a match.