A WOMAN who died of breast cancer at the age of 37 penned a letter to her younger self on her final day in the hope it will encourage others to live their lives to the fullest.
Australian Army captain Ruth Hunt was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer when she was 34 and sadly passed away earlier this month.
Despite being diagnosed with the life-changing illness in 2016, Ruth won five gold medals for Australia in the United States Air Force Warrior Games two years ago.
She also represented her country at the 2018 Sydney Invictus Games where she met Prince Harry.
On her last day, Ruth bravely wrote a letter to her younger self – which was published by 7News – with all the life lessons she's learnt from having cancer.
Ruth's first life lesson is to not to be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
While it might be hard to accept you can't do everything on your own, Ruth insisted that "it'll make life easier" when you accept help from your loved ones.
Secondly, Ruth highlighted the importance of family and how certain friends can become an extension of it in times of ill health.
She wrote: "Cancer will teach you that family is everything. They will be the ones sitting next to you on the chemo ward, flying across Australia just to be with you, sending you care packages and flowers. It will not be workmates.
"They are the friends who call, even after there’s bad news; there will be friends who support you and love you and accept you, even if you’re a very different person from the one they met."
Ruth’s life lessons:
- Don't be afraid to ask for help – it makes life easier
- Family is everything- don't leave your loved ones behind
- Stress less – no one will remember the day you were late or the disappointing essay mark you got
- Dogs are awesome – cuddling a pet is one of life's greatest joys
- It's okay to say no – if someone gets snappy with you because of it, that's their problem
- Travel as much as you can – and don't be worried about taking time off work to do it, it'll be there when you get back
Thirdly, Ruth says having cancer made her realise not to sweat the small things in life.
For instance, she says no one will remember when you took a day off work for a cold, got a disappointing mark in school or wore the same outfit as someone else.
The late army captain said she regretted ever working on Christmas Eve and missing out on time with her loved ones.
As a proud pet owner, it didn't surprise Ruth's family that she included "dogs are awesome" as one of her life lessons.
Cancer will teach you that family is everything. They will be the ones sitting next to you on the chemo ward, flying across Australia just to be with you, sending you care packages and flowers. It will not be workmates.
In her letter, Ruth described cuddling a dog as one of "life's great joys" and said having a "nice warm body" lying next to you after chemo is "just what you need".
Although Ruth would aways struggle to say at no at work, she said it was an important lesson for her to learn.
She added: "You will learn that if someone gets a touch cranky when you say no, that’s not actually your problem, but theirs.
"Cancer will teach you that a lot of people have been taking advantage of your generosity and kindness for a long time. The earlier you learn to say no, the better."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAcTcYOj8rX/
Playing with #polaroids Just a little bit of #silliness ?????
A post shared byRuth Hunt (@ruthekhunt) on
Finally, Ruth urged people to travel as much as possible – and go places out of their comfort zone.
She wrote: "Do it. There are so many places for you to explore. Go to Africa while you can and yes, Europe is amazing but there are a lot of different places to explore beyond Europe."
Urging people not to use work as an excuse, Ruth said it'll always be something waiting for you when you return.
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