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Eleven months ago, five-time world champion triathlete Leslie Patterson was on top of the world.
The screenwriter’s film “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which he fought hard to make for the big screen, won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Film, and became the toast of Hollywood.
The World War I film won a record seven BAFTA Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
But Ms Patterson’s Hollywood dreams came to a screeching halt late last year when her husband of 22 years, sports psychologist Dr Simon Marshall, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
In an emotional post on Instagram, the couple, who moved to California to pursue their film dreams full-time, wrote: “2023 has been full of the biggest things, the best, the best. The worst of the worst.

Five-time world champion triathlete Leslie Patterson was the toast of Hollywood, but her dreams of stardom suddenly ended late last year when her husband, Dr Simon Marshall, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. finished.

GoFundMe page for Patterson’s husband.The couple described it as “the biggest fight of my life”

Leslie Patterson and Simon Marshall attend the BAFTA 2023 Nominations Party held at the National Gallery on February 18, 2023

The couple, who moved to California to pursue their film dreams full-time, vowed to overcome the devastating diagnosis in an emotional post on Instagram.Photo: Happy couple attending a party in Los Angeles, March 10, 2023

Prince William, Prince of Wales, meets with Leslie Paterson and Daniel Dreyfuss on stage after the BAFTAs at the Royal Festival Hall on February 19, 2023.

Simon Marshall and Leslie Patterson attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March 2023

Ms Patterson’s World War I film All Quiet on the Western Front won a record seven BAFTA Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.Pictured: Patterson poses with fellow screenwriter Ian Stokel alongside the BAFTA winner in February 2023.

Ms. Patterson, a world-class athlete, used her prize money to purchase the film rights to the 1929 Enrich Maria Remarque novel.Photo: Patterson wins her Alabama Elite Women’s Race at the 2012 ITU World Triathlon on May 19, 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama
“A BAFTA win, an Oscar nomination, an Oscar win…but unfortunately…Simon has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. So in 2024, we face the biggest battle of our lives. .
“Please continue to give us that positive energy because we are going to need it.
Dr. Marshall continued, “I started a new career, moved to Los Angeles, and embarked on the incredible journey that we both have been on in the movie…even though terminal pancreatic cancer is never a good thing. We’re going to overcome it, and I’ve done that,” he added. I’ve got a world champion and a tremendous hustler on my side and things are going well on average. ”
Ms Patterson, 43, from Stirling, made global headlines when she said it took her 16 years to secure a deal to make the film based on Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel.
The book was made into a Hollywood film in 1930 and won the Best Picture Oscar.
Ms. Patterson was an actor and world-class athlete when she met her writing partner Ian Stokel and approached the Remarque estate to secure the rights to remake the film for a modern audience.
The triathlete spent 16 years using winnings from a race in Costa Rica, which he competed in despite a broken shoulder, to buy the movie rights and his dream became a reality when Netflix agreed to make it into a movie. Invested over £5,000. German project.
The film, starring Daniel Brühl and Felix Kammerer, was a commercial and critical hit, prompting Patterson and her British husband (who they met while they were students at Loughborough University) to move to Los Angeles full-time. became.
A source said, “After winning the Oscar and British Academy Awards, they were on top of the world.” They finally realized their dream, they got an offer to make a movie, and everything looked rosy.
“Then in November last year, Simon was diagnosed with one of the worst forms of cancer possible.”
The two have set up a GoFundMe to raise $500,000 to fund the experimental treatment.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” also won four Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Film.Photo: Sienna Miller, Leslie Patterson, Ian Stokel.

Leslie Patterson attends the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards Ceremony held at Fairmont Century Plaza on January 15, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Mr Patterson, 43, from Stirling, made global headlines for his 16-year fight to adapt All Quiet on the Western Front.

But her stardom dreams were abruptly interrupted late last year when her husband, Dr Simon Marshall, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Leslie said her husband was on the “brink” of an “exciting new chapter” in his life when he received the bad news.

Patterson said her husband’s fights are life’s “unexpected obstacles that challenge us.”

Triathlete Patterson competes in Costa Rica race despite broken shoulder
“Sometimes life throws unexpected obstacles at us, and right now my husband Simon and I are facing the biggest challenge of our lives,” Leslie wrote on the GoFundMe site.
“Guided by the unwavering spirit that has defined our lives, we are determined to overcome this monumental challenge.
“Simon was about to begin a remarkable new chapter in his career when this diagnosis interrupted our plans and had a huge impact mentally, physically and financially.
“Although we are fortunate to have excellent insurance, the standard treatment options available for pancreatic cancer can be somewhat limited in their effectiveness. In our pursuit, we are exploring new treatments, therapies, and modalities.
These innovative approaches offer hope, but they come at great cost. In our pursuit of victory against this unrelenting enemy, we realized that we needed the support of our amazing community – our friends and family who have always supported us through thick and thin. ”
As of Friday night, the fund had reached $117,000.
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