-I was a football player, or soccer.
I started when I was around 4 years old,
and I played quite seriously in my early teens,
and I made the regional in Namibia.
While at university, almost every day,
I'd run over and just play five-a-side in this net.
I started feeling a little uncomfortable at the knee.
There was issues with movement.
Eventually, it got worse,
and I went and checked with a family doctor,
and they did an ultrasound that showed that I had a tumor.
And the biopsy results showed that I had cancer.
My name is a Christopher Aiff.
I'm 21 years old, and I'm living with osteosarcoma.
Doctors say I have six months to two years left to live,
but, really, they have no idea.
Family is so key.
My sister is truly the most amazing person I know.
We're very much friends
beyond any family obligation that we have to one another.
-He's almost my backbone.
Everything that I really want to do and accomplish, my dreams,
he's what makes me want to do them.
-The diagnosis hasn't, in any way, warped the relationship.
The cancer, in a weird way, has given us the platform
to explore that further together and travel the world
and do things that most people don't get the chance to do.
It's just sad that the cost for that is so high.
Statistically, I could've won the lottery.
I just happened to be on the flip side of that spectrum.
Strange. I thought that I wouldn't be able to handle it
once they told me.
And as soon as the words came out of his mouth --
"You have osteosarcoma" --
I was like, "Okay. It's on. I got you."
I was just going to be the best patient there was.
I did nine cycles of chemotherapy and one surgery
to remove the sarcoma from my knee.
I was told that I was cancer-free
in January this year.
Three months thereafter, I had my first follow-up scan.
What was once three small spots in my lungs
was now around 40 or 50 small tumors between both.
I was told that...
...hope for eradicating the illness had passed.
And so the focus was now on buying time.
-Watching him go through chemo
and being completely powerless...
If it wasn't the nausea,
then it was the restlessness and the insomnia.
And the last round of the chemo,
he said, "Mom, I don't want to do it."
And I said, "Okay, we won't do it."
-You know, I had felt what I think death feels like.
And I wasn't willing to risk a life to go back to that place,
snot for any treatment.
It was decided by myself and supported by my family
that we should -- you know what? --
identify the things that are most important to me
and create a bucket list and just do them.
-I realize that other people
are probably asking the same question,
"How can you, when you know you have limited time with him,
let him go?
How?"
But he's -- I want him to be doing his bucket list.
How can I not let him go?
-I think, as a parent,
there can be no greater sacrifice than that.
And if I could ask for anything, that would be that.
And, you know, a cure for cancer on the side could be nice,
but...
[ Intro to Ruby Summer's "Mermaids & Poets" plays ]
- [music] Good morning, world, it's nice to wake up to [music]
[music] Another beautiful, blue-skied day [music]
[music] The boys are still asleep in their drug rugs [music]
[music] We played our music way too late [music]
[music] I'm gonna run down and jump in the ocean [music]
-Whoo-hoo!
[music] I love the feel of the salt on my skin [music]
[music] And we've been living in this house all summer [music]
[music] Loved every minute... [music]
-I've been traveling for close to four months now.
This is our ninth country,
and every day since I made that decision
has reinforced and validated it.
You know, we haven't paid a dime wherever we've lived.
It's all been with friends and family,
and it's all been love-focused and friendship-focused.
Hi. -Morning.
-We wanted to get something that was for the two of us,
including our travels, basically.
-It's just, like, such a perfect symbol
that is indigenous and authentic
to Southern Africa and Namibia, specifically.
Excited?
-Very excited.
-Oh, it's good someone is finally doing that for her.
[ Laughter ]
-You know, I loved him and appreciated him,
you know, throughout our entire lives,
and I've learned so much from him.
But the past few months, and when you start thinking,
you almost prepare yourself for a funeral, you know?
And what will life be like when he's not around?
And I -- I started to realize how...
...how he's -- he lives within me.
I don't know how to explain how excited I am.
[ Laughs ] -I'm doing good.
While I'm sad that perhaps I may not get the chance
to experience love in any romantic capacity,
I have loved and been loved
more than most people will ever in their lifetime.
And of that, I have no doubt.
-[ Laughs ]
It's so cool. [ Laughs ]
-And I'm glad we got them in the same places.
-I don't think that Dad can be angry.
I have no idea how I'm gonna do anything.
-I will love my family, always.
I would never lose sight of --
of what they did for me during this time...
and for what this time...
and this illness...
has brought to our family.
It would be amazing if...
I could...use that gratitude and that reference point
and that perspective still in this life.
And if by some chance...
the world does not feel it is necessary to terminate my life,
to get that message across, I would be greatly appreciative.
The decision to be positive is not one
that disregards or belittles the sadness that exists.
It is, rather, a conscious choice to focus on the good
and to cultivate happiness and genuine happiness.
Happiness is not a limited resource.
And when we devote our energy and time to trivial matters
and choose to stress
over things that ultimately are insignificant,
from that point, we perpetuate our own sadness,
and we lose sight of the things that really make us happy
and rationalize our way out of doing amazing things.
Dying doesn't need to be a bad thing.
It is, in fact, a necessary thing.
I want to be remembered as...
someone who...
did their best.