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It was hard but beautiful; child labour, the experience of going through that, it was just magical. Becoming a parent for the first time. That was that time to be a family." You have this little innocent, beautiful baby, then you find out she has got tumours in her spleen, stomach, lungs and in her kidneys and the doctors telling us she would not make it on the first round of chemotherapy. Through The Azaylia Foundation, the couple say they also want to raise awareness of the signs of childhood cancer. First fundraiser It’s clear he is hugely driven and wears his heart on his sleeve. And he wants to encourage men in particular to be open with their feelings: “I get thousands of messages a day from people who are suicidal, going through something, stressed, depressed, anxious. The reason I keep being vocal is to help others. The circle of grief never gets smaller, I just grow stronger around it.” READ MORE: Christine Lampard tells Ashley Cain 'You are warriors' as The Azaylia Foundation is launched
Ashley has now made it his mission to keep her legacy alive and has built up a huge following doing so. That was the most difficult part of the book – I didn’t care about it,” says Ashley. “Ex-professional footballer, so what? If you fall in a river that’s two or three miles wide you aren’t really getting out,” says Ashley. “If you fall in the Arctic Circle and you do get out, you’ve got 20 minutes to hypothermia. She was just eight months old when the baby girl died and 31-year-old Ashley, together with Azaylia's mum Safiyya Vorajee, have now made it their mission to raise funds for and awareness about childhood cancer through a charity they set-up in their daughter's name - the Azaylia Foundation. The couple gave some sobering statistics: one child in every school has cancer, there are 16 families every day getting used to the battle of cancer, and in the last 20 years there have only been three new treatments for children with cancer.A tearful Safiyya said: "The morning we woke up, it was a really difficult morning, because I woke up with a feeling, I don't know, they say it is a mother's instinct, but I thought 'today was the last day'. He is no stranger to fitness challenges, having completed, five marathons in five cities within five days, a 100-mile ultramarathon and cycling the length of the British Isles. He also enjoyed all the trappings that came with that – girls, nightclubs, fame and the thought that he had “made it”. I'm also able to hopefully inspire people who are going through their own mental health issues – grief, loss, trauma, depression – realise that no matter what you're going through, there is strength at the other side of your struggle.”
He's taken up huge physical challenges, including running five marathons in five days and cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats – and is currently training for the Yukon 1000 in July, kayaking 1,000 miles from Canada, across the Arctic Circle, to Alaska – to reduce the hurt in his head and in his heart, he says. When you have that feeling for the first time in your life, knowing who you are, knowing you have resources to be able to do something about it, that’s a pretty big responsibility. He admits that writing about his “Billy Big Banana” days for his new book, Strong, was tough. Ashley, who played for Coventry City from 2008-2010 left football in 2012 after he ruptured his Achilles tendon. He went on to appear on reality shows like MTV’s Ex On The Beach and Take Me Out. Despite still coming to terms with their unimaginable grief her parents set up a charity Azaylia Foundation as a legacy to her.
On Good Morning Britain this morning, Ashley spoke about his latest challenge for the charity- riding across Europe
It was news that broke hearts across the world - that the brave eight-month-old had lost her brave battle and had sadly passed away. Today, to coincide with the first day of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Ashley will embark on the first of a series of fundraisers for the charity. Ashley Cain said: ‘Writing this book has probably been my toughest challenge yet. Not only by revisiting the heartbreak, but making sure it truly reflects the traumatic but magnificently beautiful journey of me and my incredible daughter Azaylia. It is a true story of beauty and the beast. It’s a love story with a powerful, strong and unbelievably meaningful message. My daughter taught me the true meaning of love, even through a breaking heart. She taught me how to be strong, when all I felt was weak. The power of courage, even when I was most scared. To smile and shine light, when it seemed I was surrounded with nothing but darkness and to never ever give up on that or them in which you love. In her honour, I want to pass on those values to the world in this beautiful memoir, Strong.’ My favourite moments was when I used to sleep over at the hospital at night and I used to wake up in the morning, look over my shoulder and in the next bed to me was Azaylia," he said. They shared what were the final moments with their brave daughter, who had battled cancer since she was just eight weeks old.What I was doing was faking a lot. There was a facade, to climb the ladder. But when you are in the pits, it’s very hard to survive if you are still lying to yourself. That’s what changed about me. For once in my life I was true to myself.
It is one of a number of gruelling cycling challenges he plans to undertake, including the Three Peaks, cycling between each of the three mountains, as well as bike ride from his home in Nuneaton to Paris as well as across part of India too. We didn't just want to put out our hands and ask for money - we wanted to show a fraction of the strength they have."Cain has made it his calling to be truthful. He also hopes that through his work with the foundation and his fundraising challenges, he's continuing his daughter's legacy by helping other children fight cancer. READ MORE: Ashley Cain and Safiyya Vorajee announce split but say they will 'love, care and support each other forever' Not only was fatherhood the missing piece that made me feel complete, but that little girl allowed me to be the person I wanted to be.” Ashley's psychological and emotional resilience is unparalleled, truly in the 0.1 percent', Ant Middleton
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