My story of hope

Presentation of £10,000 to the Stuart Howarth Foundation by TLH Auctioneers, Chadderton to go towards the Stuart Howarth Wellbeing and Fitness Centre Ltd. Cancer sufferer Stuart (2nd left) receives the cheque from TLH staff left to right, Emily Higham, Dave Shore (manager), Hazel Slater.

A SELF-MADE millionaire author with an incredible tale to tell is refusing to let cancer get him down.

Terminal kidney cancer patient Stuart Howarth — once jailed for killing his abusive stepfather — has vowed to show the world he is a good person by dedicating his life to helping those in need.

The grandfather-of-four, formerly of Roundthorn Road, Clarksfield, but who now lives in Ashton, was jailed in 2000 for manslaughter after a trial heard he and his siblings had suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather.

Moving

He said: “You can be what society wants you to be or you can turn your life around.

“I want to show the world I am a good person.”

Stuart was a Sunday Times best-selling author with “Please Daddy No”, released in September, 2006, and later wrote “I Just Wanted to Be Loved” in March, 2008 — both moving accounts of his childhood traumas.

In June, he established The Stuart Howarth Foundation charity in Stretford.

From there he will be opening The Stuart Howarth Wellbeing and Fitness Centre which will not only help cancer patients, but also offer a dedicated counselling service to assist ex-offenders and rehabilitate them.

“I was bed-ridden for two years,” he added. “I promised myself that if I got out of bed, this is what I would do.

“I don’t want to die. My past life brought with it some darkness but my favourite saying is ‘out of the darkest shadows come the brightest lights.’

“It is only when we have known utter despair that we can feel the greatest happiness.”

Book

In autumn, Stuart will be releasing a new book entitled “I Choose Life”, chronicling his rise to fortune with a successful recycling company he started in 2006, which turned him in to a millionaire by 2009 — quite a turnaround for someone who left prison in 2001 with just 84pence in his pocket.
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