We were asked to write an article about myfarewellnote for the website whatnext.com. Due to recent security problems, the website can only be viewed in the USA and Canada. We have been told by Greg who runs the website that our article has so far received mixed responses, so if you have an opinion on this then please do post a comment below.
Here is the article that we wrote -
Four months ago, a new app was launched called myfarewellnote – it’s an app that allows people to leave messages for friends, family and loved ones, should the worst happen. Individuals can leave messages as just a typed message, photos, audio or videos or a combination of all four.
Some people might say why is there a need for this app but when you consider how many tragic events occur around the world on a daily basis, we believe that it is vitally important that individuals leave messages for friends, family and loved ones so that if the worst were to happen, they would at the very least be leaving a treasured gift that would be read , listened to or watched, when they probably need that comfort the most.
We’ve seen two stories recently in the news which have gone viral around the world, that help to explain what it means to receive something from a loved one . The first was Bailey Sellers whose Dad knew he was dying and arranged for flowers to be sent to his daughter on her birthday, every year until she was 21. The second was Holly Butcher who also knew she was dying and wrote a letter to her family and loved ones. The myfarewellnote app isn’t just about people who sadly know that their time is limited. It’s for anyone and everyone as nobody really knows what tomorrow might bring – just ask the relatives of the victims of the Twin Towers disaster. For all of us, dying is an inevitability so we believe that anyone can and should be able to create a note, whenever they want.
The idea is the brain child of Steve McIlroy, who is an ex-serviceman who came up with the idea for the app after two tragic events in his life. Firstly, Steve is a former soldier who during his 9 years in the armed forces, saw 18 of his colleagues die in active service. Then after leaving the army, Steve’s best friend in life, died from a tragic and very sudden brain haemorrhage. In both cases, none of the people who sadly passed away, had the chance to leave messages for their friends and loved ones and Steve always wondered what any of them might have said to him, had they had that opportunity. This prompted Steve to create myfarewellnote.
It’s very early days for our app but our message has already reached all four corners of the globe. We have celebrity followers from the United States to Britain and Australia. We believe it is the most treasured gift you could ever leave someone. If anyone wants to know more, please contact us at enquiries@myfarewellnote.com and we’d be delighted to help you.
Thought it would be appropriate to share this post that was originally posted in the 'My Stories' section of this forum - Thanks again to Sharon for posting this
Hope you don't mind me posting this in here but after reading what you do, I felt I needed to share some of this and here seems like a good place to do it.
Firstly my Father died 18 months ago from lung cancer. One of his favourite songs that he always use to sing to my sisters and I was 'Love Me Tender' by Elvis. About 3 weeks before he died, I asked him to sing this to us again and so took out my phone and recorded him doing this. I watch back on that video now 18 months since he died and yes it is my Father on the video, but due to the illness taking hold of him, he was not the same man. His voice is not the same and he looked so different and unwell. Suppose what I am trying to say is, I wish that I had a video like this of him before the cancer took control and changed him as a person. If I had thought about it, I would have recorded him in the very early stages when he was more like himself, more like the Father I knew and loved. Had I known about what you do, then I could have arranged for him to do it through your website.
So if someone is in a similar position to what my Father was in, do something like this as soon as you can because I promise you, your sons,daughters, partner, grandchildren will completely cherish having something like the video that I had but let them remember you how you was before any horrible disease takes over. Not meaning to sound selfish, just being totally honest.
Tragic stories emerging on this forum. I've lost my mother and Uncle to cancer, it does not discriminate, it can happen to any of us, at any time. I am in the armed forces and signed up as soon as I heard about the app, its a great idea and didn't cost me a penny ( except the £2 a year storage cost, which is nothing) I love the idea of the promo code and giving to charity, its also a great idea, thanks guys.
I lost a parent to Cancer two years ago, it still pains me to think what they went through. We all knew it was just a matter of time, but when the time came, it was hard work. I support cancer charities because of what my family went through. Love the site idea and the forum, keep up the good work. Priti .
You only have to have watched the first episode of My Wonderful Life and see the response that Holly Butcher received from the letter that she wrote to see how doing something like this for friends and family will be of a great benefit to anyone who has a friend or family member suffering with Cancer or a similar illness
I speak from my own experiences and won't bore you with all the details but I had a scare when it came to prostate cancer. Thankfully I received the treatment in time but when I initially found it, my first thought was to go out and do things that I had always said I wanted to do but had never got round to doing them. This included going to New York for 2 weeks with all my family, doing a parachute jump from a plane and also more personally changing the way I was with people whereby I found myself being more honest, open and expressing my true feelings to them and appreciating the people that I have in my life. The point I am making is that with the holiday to New York and the parachute jump,I wanted to create memories for my family to have of me which they could look back on in case the worst case scenario happened.
So it does put a different perspective on things and I think by creating a memory of yourself for others to receive and keep is a marvellous idea
All of my family are really close and spend as much time together as we can with family gatherings being a regular thing.
My Sister and I were extremely close but at the age of 55, she passed away from lung cancer. She left behind a great husband and 3 lovely daughters. We talked openly about the worst case scenario and she was more open with me about it than any other member of the family. I suggested that her husband and daughters would love to have some special memories of her to keep forever and I decided to help her with filming a series of videos where she spoke about her life and family. Talking about the past, what she hoped would happen for them in the future and her feelings about everything. We kept these videos a secret and agreed that I would pass them on, only after she had passed away. A week after her death, I arranged for her husband and a daughters to come to mine for dinner and produced these videos as a gift to them from her. As you can imagine, it was an emotional moment but they were all so very grateful and treasure these videos as a prize possession.
What you have created with myfarewellnote gives others the opportunity to do what we did but without the need to involve anyone else. I wish you the very best of luck with it all and hope that my story will make people think about doing this,because quite honestly these videos are completely priceless
My Mum passed away from Cancer in January and I cannot describe how hard it was for me to go through that experience and seeing the changes in her particularly towards the end. Thankfully my sister came across your website back in November and arranged for Mum to create a video message for me. I was notified by email that she had set up this message but to be fair, I didn't take too much notice or really think too much about it at the time.
After she passed away, my Sister explained what I needed to do to receive the message and I did the simple process and was rewarded with this video message from her that she had recorded for me. I can't tell you how much this video message means to me and it truly is something priceless to have.
I contacted yourselves and offered to create a message for you to use and share with others after I saw a request from you asking for anyone wishing to do this. I hope my video makes others think and realise what a precious gift this really is and I wish myfarewellnote all the very best and urge people to really think about doing this for their family
Thanks so much, C.Walker
I have lost 3 of my immediate family to cancer so I probably know more than most what everyone on this forum is going through when they share their stories. I want to lash out about this terrible disease and how it has crippled my life but instead i channel all of my energy and anger into helping to raise money for cancer charities here in the US. I read a couple of posts from other people and just wanted to say that I too wish this app had been around 3 years ago. I would love to have messages from my wife, daughter and brother who have all fallen to this terrible thing. I can't explain how passionate I am that people who know they've got cancer or any terminal illness for that matter, should register for this app. You will never know what it would mean to the people you leave behind. There isn't a day goes by when I don't want to talk to the loved ones i've lost but i would so much have treasured just having a little note from each of them. You've developed a great idea here - just sadly too late for my family members who i've sadly lost
Just wanted to say that the video that C.Walker produced for you was extremely inspiring. You could clearly see what having this video message from his Mum meant to him and it has made me sign up to Myfarewellnote and create video messages for my 2 Sons and my Grandchildren.
I have actually recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and it has really made me think about life and what I can leave for my family should the worst thing happen. Could not think of a better thing to leave them than a personal video message from me which they will hopefully appreciate and benefit from should anything happen to me. Pat
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