Nigel Sleight (46) was given just months to live last year after his condition, caused by a brain tumour, began to deteriorate.
He has now outlived his prognosis and continues to defy doctors and is determined to make the most of the life he has left.
Ever since Nigel became ill, the Sleight family, Nigel’s wife Katie and sons Ben (13) and Finn (12), who live in Yaxley, have been working their way through their combined bucket list to make the most of the time they have left together.
Given Nigel’s condition, the bucket list has been adjusted slightly with things such as spending Christmas together, which many people take for granted, meaning the world to the family.
Ben and Finn are both big football fans, with Ben supporting Manchester City and Finn supporting Posh. One of the promises that Nigel had made Ben was that he would take him to go and see Manchester City play live.
Nigel’s previous career as a barrister and later his ill health meant the family have never found the time to make good on this promise and didn’t think they ever would.
That was until the FA Cup sprinkled its magic and Pep Guardiola’s side were drawn to face Posh at the Weston Homes Stadium in the fifth round on Tuesday (March 1).
Katie said: “As soon as we saw the draw, I thought oh my gosh this is amazing, how can we make it happen?
“Nigel has taken a considerable downturn in recent months and now has carers 24/7 so even things such as going for a meal or to the cinema have become a challenge.
“That has altered the bucket list and really shown us that just spending time together as a family is so important but this is always something we have wanted to do.
“Taking Ben to see a Man City game has always been a promise but we didn’t see how it could happen. We could maybe travel up to an hour away but having this tie on our doorstep means it was definitely achievable. We just had to find out how because I had never brought football tickets before.”
At this point, Katie took to social media to share her story and appeal for help but faced a struggle given the sheer demand for tickets and the fact that the club policy was to only allow one person to buy one ticket.
That was until local company and Posh sponsors Princebuild stepped in. Once they heard about Nigel’s story, they were able to source six tickets to allow the whole family and two of Nigel’s carers to attend the match.
Katie added: “We are so grateful to Princebuild for what they have done. We are all super excited. Nigel is in particular and he is now conserving all of his energy for the big day.
“We are just trying to do as much as we can while we can. Life has been tough but we are just trying to make the best of every day that we can. Nigel is a tremendous man, he has done so much for us and been amazing and we just want to make his time with us as enjoyable as possible.”
Princebuild director Matthew Pudney said: “We do a lot of work in the community and we are always looking out for people that we can help locally or that we could make a difference to.
“We are a family business and we do like to help in the community and when we heard about this family we felt we could help them.
“With our continued sponsorship of Posh we thought the least we could do was to help provide some additonal tickets to allow the family to spend some time together at this match.”
Princebuild also sponsor the Kev Lawrence Breakfast Show on PCRFM and Katie had also been featured on air.
Matthew added: “When we heard through the breakfast show we really felt we could help. If you can do something that makes a difference that is important – we like to do that whenever we can.”
Broadcaster Kev Lawrence said: “When I saw Katie appealing on her social media for help in buying the tickets it really struck a chord with me. I lost my own dad to a brain tumour back in 2008, and I have such sympathy for Katie and her children.
“So knowing how much of a wonderful memory this would make for their family I really wanted to help.
“Matthew at Princebuild was so generous in offering to buy the tickets for them.
“And telling their story on the air is perhaps what local radio is all about. Connecting our community, and helping them wherever we can.”
