Lulu never expected that meeting a friend of a friend at a music festival would lead to the most meaningful connection of her life.
Lulu and Félix first crossed paths through their mutual friend. At first, it was brief moments of connection, a conversation here, a laugh there, but the friendship grew more over time.
“He lit up rooms. He made people smile. He was unbelievably talented at everything he did...”
By the time they began dating, Félix had already been diagnosed with a rare sarcoma growing on his heart and into his lung.
To Lulu and the people that loved him, Felix was a rare and remarkable person that never let cancer define him. “He never came across as though he was sick,” Lulu shared. “He lit up rooms. He made people smile. He was unbelievably talented at everything he did, even sports, despite struggling to breathe sometimes.”
“Supporting Félix through his cancer journey was an honour."
Walking alongside Félix’s journey
Supporting Félix through his cancer journey, Lulu says, was an honour. Sometimes that meant going with him to appointments, gently checking in on how he was processing the latest update. Other times it was quiet moments: hospital stays filled with Lego building, pizza nights, movie marathons, and simply sitting next to each other.
“Félix wasn’t worried about himself,” Lulu said. “He cared more about how everyone else was coping. In many ways, he was supporting us as much as we were supporting him.”
Late in 2023, doctors told Félix his cancer was terminal.
He passed away in early April 2024, just a week before his 21st birthday.
Felix in hospital
Finding support through Canteen
Through it all, Canteen was there for Félix during the toughest moments of his journey.
When treatment felt relentless, major surgeries, radiotherapy, the exhaustion of putting life on hold at just 20 years old, Canteen provided counselling, a community of young people who truly understood what he was going through, and a space where he didn't have to face any of it alone.
Félix found something rare at Canteen — young people who could relate to his experiences, who gave him real advice on navigating life as a young adult with cancer. That connection meant the world to him.
He believed deeply in what Canteen does. In the awareness it builds, the connection it creates, and the lifeline it offers young people at their most vulnerable. Carrying that forward feels like the most meaningful thing Lulu feels she can do to honour him.
Lulu and Felix wearing bandannas
Living out Félix’s legacy
This year, Lulu has designed a bandanna inspired by Félix. A tribute to the vibrant, passionate way he moved through life.
“I wanted my bandanna to feel full of passion and love for life. It represents everything Félix cherished… and how his spark continues through the people he loved.”
Félix lived with remarkable intensity and joy. He seized every opportunity, created deep connections everywhere he went, and brought light into every room.
“Even though he was stolen far too many years,” Lulu said, “he lived with a spark many people may go a hundred years without having.”
“I hope that Canteen finds young people at the moment they need shelter. That they feel held, supported, and not alone. Cancer brings challenges no one our age should have to face, and I hope everyone finds a community like Canteen to walk with them through it.”
