Henry Scowcroft is an award-winning science writer for Cancer Research UK.  In 2016, his girlfriend of six years, Zarah Harrison was diagnosed with an aggressive stage four tumour. After a short and brave battle she sadly passed away, with Henry by her side, just as he had been throughout her treatment. 

Struggling to cope and with a need to understand what had happened, Henry channelled his grief into writing ‘Cross Everything’ – a book which documents both his personal relationship with Zarah and her illness but also their struggle to understand and come to terms with her cancer.

The result was a memoir and manual that has been described as the most emotional textbook you will read.

In this shortcuts episode, Henry explains how, through his writing, he was able to provide a powerful legacy for Zarah – and a guide for others who face a similar challenge.  It is a detailed and deeply moving conversation about grief, making sense of the unfathomable nature of cancer and recovery. 

Henry's Crisis Cures: 

1 – To carve out time for myself and make sure I’m looking after myself so I can be as helpful to the people around me as I can. 

2 – Not getting caught up in the shoulda’ woulda’ coulda’ – there’s always a way to look back at the way you ended up in a situation you’re in and think, ‘if only I’d done X, if only I’d done Y, I wouldn’t be here.  But the fact is, you are where you are.  You’re here now.  Look forward, not backwards.  Focus on the horizon and not over your shoulder.

3 – Music – Particularly the guitar which I’ve always loved playing.  I play in a band to this day.  I love listening to music – it’s so powerful at being able to get your head in a different space to where it is.  If you want to weep then music is incredibly good at taking you into that zone.  It was especially important when Zarah died.

Crisis Track David Crosby – Traction in the Rain.

Links: 

- https://open.spotify.com/track/0qexU8674Ii6vaeFolN6Gb?si=f5d5685f69d24a80 

- https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/donate?gclid=CjwKCAjwsNiIBhBdEiwAJK4kho_CgAZZPfqR3-9lrx5Uj4yHIq7rpM5_OYywkUil1oJdQSY5evX5YBoCD9AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

- Henry's book: https://amzn.to/3DkXtuJ

Host – Andy Coulson

Producer – Louise Difford

Full transcript available here: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/shortcuts-henry-scowcroft-on-grief-writing-to-recover-and-the-power-of-music/

Stream/Buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm 

Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk