About Me

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I'm Carole, living in London, happily married and mum to two amazing boys.I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer in April 2010. Surgery took place in November 2010 and I now have a permanent colostomy...Spinal mets were then diagnosed in October 2011...In January 2012 I was told of further spread to the hip area (multiple lesions)..My life expectancy is now 6-9 months. Walk alongside me on the last part of my experience with this..

Monday, 18 October 2010

Other things going on in the world despite my problems ......

This post has nothing to do with cancer in any way shape or form - it's about thinking about other people and what they are experiencing on a daily basis.....


Yesterday I was thinking about other things taking place around the world...


I started thinking about news items that had not been mentioned for a while now - obvious ones come to mind such as little Madeleine McCann - once she was 'breaking news' daily for months and now as time has gone by rarely a mention anymore :-(

So, who remembers Paul and Rachel Chandler?

DON'T google it! Think for a moment......


My reason for posting this is because this month, in a few days time, it will be a year since Paul and Rachel Chandler were taken hostage by Somali pirates.

The last news of them via TV interview was back in May this year - nothing has been reported about them since.
Our governments, along with all others, despite their protests of innocence and 'We don't deal with pirates/terrorists/hijackers' claims - ALL western governments have been made fully aware of numerous ransoms that have been paid to get large vessels returned - ransoms in the millions of dollars region.

The price for Paul and Rachel Chandler dropped to a paltry £100,000 - a small price to pay to save the lives of two British people kidnapped and held in probably terrible conditions for almost a year now.
So what this means is, they'll pay the price to get a ship back but they won't cough up to get our people back.....

No wonder our kids are confused about morals at times, they learn it all from those in power. Life is cheap - but for the Chandlers not quite cheap enough apparently.

Anyway, I'm disgusted by their abandonment - I've emailed our new Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon William Hague yesterday asking what he's doing about them...I don't suppose I'll get much of a reply but I'll let you know.

One thing I did find whilst browsing around was a maritime blog that Paul and Rachel were keeping about their travels...it's really interesting stuff and then you get to the last entry which just states simply...... 'PLEASE PHONE SARAH'....

If you're interested in reading more about their travels, here is the link to their blog....

http://blog.mailasail.com/lynnrival

Keep them in your prayers and thoughts....almost a year separated from their family and even more worryingly from each other....

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16 comments:

  1. Sarahmumof319 October 2010 at 09:40

    :( i often think about little maddie mccann, she went missing the day after before mikey was born :( over 3 years ago...
    I hope you spur a responce from your email about Paul and Rachel :(
    and pleased you got a new date for through good luck with everything am always checking in with your blog to see how things are going, much love and thoughts xxx

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  2. Sarah19 October 2010 at 15:10

    I was reading about this a few days ago. An aid worker has also been kidnapped now trying to negotiate a deal. He works for save the children in Kenya. It seems yesterdays news is old news, think that's why its important to take a few minutes out of our day and think about those around us.
    But all our problems are relative, despite being big or small, and troubles should be shared. You are a ambassador to this sis xxx

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  3. Tony Songhurst19 October 2010 at 17:32

    Hey Carole,

    Fran mentioned them the other day as a passing comment...well done you for pushing it to William Hague.

    T x

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  4. Carole19 October 2010 at 19:30

    Y'know what Tony...I think he might think he can get away with ignoring me, he's not aware of my official nuisance title (yet)!

    If he doesn't respond, I'm emailing DC next and asking him the same questions and also asking why his Foreign Secretary doesn't respond to queries regarding foreign matters and British Citizens.

    I've got bored being a nuisance with the NHS at the moment, time to aim higher now :-)))

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  5. Carole19 October 2010 at 19:33

    Hi Sarah,
    It's going to be impossible for you to forget little Madeleine then...I didn't realise it was so close to Mikes birthday :-(

    Love n hugs back to you all. I've seen the Halloween pics - Chloe's so grown up looking suddenly xxx

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  6. Carole19 October 2010 at 19:36

    Hi Sis,

    I couldn't find a single article here about them after May 2010...it's like everyone just went away and forgot them...
    As it's almost a year now I'm assuming that someone (BBC/SKY) will pick up the story again in the next few days but it's just not good enough that they've literally been abandoned.

    As I said, we all KNOW they do pay the ransoms for ships...so just pay it for the Chandlers, they've waited long enough now.

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  7. bushdot4419 October 2010 at 23:27

    Hi love i see you are on your soap box again ,good on you ,its a good job as it needs someone like you to push them into doing something , that William Hague and DC dont know who they are dealing with ,they dont know you have an official Nuisance Club with many followers eh .xxxx

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  8. Sarah20 October 2010 at 12:19

    Sis,
    Love mums comment about the soap box! LOL!

    "The Mail on Sunday" would you believe of all the tabloids! They have done a whole page on it, its page 5 if you can view on internet? The article ended, "Last night the Foreign Office refused to comment and referred all calls to Save the Children" !! So much for the Foreign Office then!

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  9. Carole20 October 2010 at 14:04

    Hi Sis, couldn't get access without a subscription (no chance of that happening!)
    I'm assuming this article is about the Aid worker rather than the Chandlers?
    He's been released now anyway....I don't know who took him but it wasn't the pirates.

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  10. Tony Songhurst20 October 2010 at 20:04

    Carole.

    Got the card and yes very apt...realise I should plan for the future i.e. will and everything as everyone should and not someone who has given up on life... I will listen to Baggy Trousers only because I love the song!

    Thanks..I did think of you today as whilst out bike training we stopped in Hathersage at a climbing/walking/outdoor pursuits shop and when I walked in there were several rows of clothing with the name Rab on the front...obviously a tasteful make of clothing!

    The advertising slogan was Rab - for the most extreme conditions in the world. Being married to an 'official nuisance' does that to a man ay!! :-)

    http://www.rab.uk.com/

    Much Love and thanks for the reality check!

    Tony xx

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  11. Carole20 October 2010 at 21:15

    Hi Tony,

    Thanks for the link for the clothes, will have a look and maybe pick him up something for Christmas.

    Glad the card turned up okay - it was more a 'Thinking of you' thing than a reality check.

    I already know you've not given up, not by a long shot...You can't, simply because if I can ever sit comfortably again in the future, I want a go on that bike :-)

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  12. cybershot21 October 2010 at 06:32

    Not sure my thoughts can reach ALL all those 'in peril' on the seas and on the lands of this world and if they don't be damned sure of one thing Carole the portion reserved for you will never be exhausted especilay atthis critical time for you.

    God speed your way to recovery.

    David [[[Dizzie]]] xxx

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  13. Carole21 October 2010 at 13:19

    Hi Mum,
    You know me, I like something to feel passionate about although I doubt very much that anyone important will take a blind bit of notice of what I think!

    See you tomorrow for dinner xxx

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  14. Carole21 October 2010 at 13:24

    Thank you David

    Your positive thoughts keep me going and I do believe we've got enough positivity to go around.
    Between us all we *can* make a difference and never forget those who need good thoughts.
    :-)

    Hope you start to feel better shortly as well xx

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  15. Alli23 October 2010 at 08:57

    Carole I have to admit I did not know about them. You know this entire pirateerng issue is just pure crap.
    These groups of bandits holding various countries hostage by kidnapping stealing ships with millions of dollars of products on some and all these wishy washy governments sit on their hands doing nothing. Canadaian too. OK we have ships patroling but don't shoot back, don't hurt these poor pirates. It's time they need to be held accountable!!
    Love Alli xox

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  16. Carole23 October 2010 at 14:55

    Hi Alli,
    Plenty of people here in the UK don't seem to know about them either.
    This whole pirating issue needs sorting I agree 100%.

    What really gets me mad though is that the big ships get returned because the ransom IS paid - which means of course they then take another ship and so the cycle goes on.

    However in this case, these two people do not have large bank accounts, they don't have the backing of either a large shipping company or a rich family, so they've literally been abandoned.

    I've not had a reply from the Foreign Secretary here so will be sending another email next week!
    Maybe with 'people power' we can do something to get them home....
    I just feel really sad for them and knowing they've been separated from each other during their captivity makes the whole thing even more scary I'm sure.

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