My name is Charttrapat Hirunsiri, but please call me Alice. It’s easier, and honestly, life’s complicated enough already.
I consider myself Thai at heart. I was born in Malaysia, grew up in Thailand, got my basic Chinese from Taiwan, earned my Master’s degree in France, and eventually moved to the UK for good in 2017.
In 2018, at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with ROS1-positive lung cancer.
But let’s be real! that diagnosis did not arrive fashionably on time.
It took what felt like forever for doctors to realise that what they thought was stubborn pneumonia was actually cancer. And then it took even longer to discover that it was ROS1, a rare genetic type of lung cancer that most people (including many doctors) had barely heard of. At that point, I had already gone through one round of chemotherapy before the plot twist finally dropped.
“Oops, it’s ROS1.”
Since then, I’ve been on Xalkori (crizotinib) and it’s still working.
(knocks on every piece of wood in the room)
In 2019, I had brain surgery, which left me with some limitations in mobility and a permanent relationship with vertigo. There are many things I can’t do now that I used to, but strangely enough, cancer also introduced me to talents I would have never discovered otherwise.
Right after my diagnosis, I stopped working as an office employee completely. For the first time in my life, I had time, I mean real time to focus on myself.
In 2021, I started painting. It calms me down and keeps me grounded in a way I never knew I needed.
In 2023, I joined a small cooking competition at Le Cordon Bleu London… and won first prize.
It’s a big deal for me as I never thought I could do this with my cancer and limited mobility.
Then in 2025, I realised that people were actually willing to buy the acrylic paintings I’d been quietly working on. I cannot describe how happy that made me.
These days, I spend my time travelling around the world. Although I mostly split my year between the UK and Thailand (about 3–4 months there during the UK’s winter, because I deserve sunshine).
And here’s the part that confuses people:
I have a lovely life because of cancer.
Cancer forced me to stop. It made me see how much love surrounds me: from my lovely GP husband, friends, family, and even strangers. I love meeting new people and talking to them. Sometimes they notice my swollen feet (a side effect from Xalkori) and ask what happened. When I tell them I have cancer, they’re usually shocked.
Until I explain that I treat my cancer like diabetes.
It’s just an illness that I live with, nothing more dramatic than that.
I truly believe that every human life comes with its own problems. The difference is where you choose to focus.
I choose happiness.
Even though I don’t see cancer as a big deal in my daily life, I do want people to be more aware of it, especially rare types like ROS1. Awareness means more research, more treatment options, and more support.
And ultimately…more chances to live.
