'I'm as happy as I've been in my life,' says aid worker Simon Boas as he faces death

'I'm as happy as I've been in my life,' says aid worker Simon Boas as he faces death
BBC News; 7/4/24 
In September 2023, Simon Boas was diagnosed with throat cancer. Aged just 46, he was told the disease was terminal, and that it would ultimately take his life. Over the following year, he knitted together his reflections on life into a book - A Beginner's Guide to Dying. The book is set to hit the shelves in October. It will be a posthumous publication. In what he expects to be one of his final interviews, Simon spoke to Emma Barnett on the Today Programme, offering his reflections on life and death as he moved into hospice care. "My pain is under control and I'm terribly happy - it sounds weird to say, but I'm as happy as I've ever been in my life.I used to think I'd rather be hit by the proverbial bus, but having a couple of months knowing this is coming has really helped me both do the boring 'death-min', but also get my thoughts and prepare myself, and feel so accepting of what's to come.It's been such a great bonus, actually. The book is called A Beginner's Guide to Dying, but really what I'm trying to convey is how enjoying life to the full kind of prepares you for this. ... I spent my life as an aid worker - quite a lot with the UN - and I've lived in places where death is something that not just exists in the background, but is imminently possible."
Editor's Note: Click on the title's link to continue reading this inspirational story. Simon's book--to be published posthumously--is available for pre-orders on Amazon.com in Audible and Kindle formats with Simon as the narrator. Let's support this inspirational United Nations and United Kingdom healthcare aid, author, and teacher-to-us-all in these final times of his life.