overnight oats – i’m going to kill him – £2.3 million

30 Oct 2026

as i finished my overnight oats, and my cortado in the pink cardboard takeaway cup in joe & the juice on wall street, i felt happy.

i love new york, ever since i solo travelled there aged 18, it’s always felt like my city.

i was born in london, but new york has always felt like i have lived a previous life there.

from that first trip i have made many amazing memories there, going to an underground dj night in greenwich village with my buddy pedro, dancing to the strokes all night.

taking our newly divorced friend away for her birthday and dancing to dancing queen in the broadway performance of mamma mia.

taking our girls there for the first time.

seeing bruce at madison square garden.

and many other fun times.

i ordered my uber.

my white toyota, driven by jad would be three minutes.

i silently slurped the foam and last millilitres of coffee, and disposed of my barbie coloured containers.

“jad?” i enquired.

“jeff?” he smiled through the open window.

i entered, sat on the white leather seats, and closed the door.

“atlantic city?” jad suggested.

atlantic city??????? my mind asked internally.

jad laughed.

an uber prankster.

i laughed too, finding his gag very funny.

“you’re my first uber driver to crack a gag” i informed him.

“ever”

“66 hudson yards, right?”

“correct” i smiled

“are you working at 66 hudson?” jad asked.

i’m normally a silent uber passenger, but i liked jad already.

“i run a mental health charity in the uk with my daughter, and i’m here for a conference” i informed him.

“do you know anybody that struggles with mental health issues?” i enquired.

i did not expect jad to tell me the story that i am about to tell you.

“well”, he said, “during the pandemic, when we all got locked down, my wife was a nurse, and she was working on the front line in the local hospital, and unfortunately she got covid.”

“and died.”

“wow, i am so sorry” i said.

“it was a very tough time for me and my children, and i was extremely sad to lose her.”

i sat in silence.

“then, three months after she died, my daughter got hit by a dui (drunk under the influence) driver.”

“and died.”

oh my gosh, i couldn’t believe what i was hearing.

“i am so sorry” i whispered.

“i struggled with my mental health, very badly, and i stopped working, and i stopped talking to people, and i just didn’t want to live.

“but then they caught the driver that killed my daughter, and he was being prosecuted, but i just wanted to kill him.

i mean really kill him.”

i replied “i would feel exactly the same, if someone killed one of my family, i would want to kill them too, i know i would turn very primal, very quickly.”

“so i set about trying to find him, so i could kill him.”

“really?” i questioned.

“really.

i found he lived in the projects, and discovered his address, then found a caretaker who had keys to his apartment, and i paid him $200 to borrow them for an hour.

i made copies.

i own a gun, so i went to his apartment with the intention to kill him.”

i sat in the back of the car, mesmerised by his story.

“i stepped out of the lift, and walked toward his apartment.

i put the key into the barrel of the lock, and it turned.

i slowly opened the door, with my gun, ready to avenge my daughter’s death.

i stepped into the dimly lit hallway, and gently closed the door behind me, and as i walked in i could see a woman sitting on a dirty, scruffy couch.

she spotted me, and asked if i had any drugs.

i told her no, and asked her where, who turned out to be her son was.

she didn’t know.

i sat with my gun, and thought about my daughter.

after about half an hour there was a knock at the door, so i headed towards it, and slowly opened it, gun raised.

it was a girl asking if her friend lived there.

i sat back down and thought about what would happen to me if i killed this man when he returned.

and i thought about my two boys, and how i would never see them again.

so, i got up, walked out of the apartment, and went to the police station, and asked to speak to the cop that was dealing with the case.

i told him what i had done, and thought he would arrest me.

but he told me i should throw the keys in the river, go home, and never tell anybody about it, ever.

i did as he said and threw the keys away, and headed home stopping off at the grocery store.

as i went to pay, i recognised the girl at the counter, she was a friend of my daughter’s, i hadn’t seen for years.

i spoke to her, and she said how sorry she was that she’d heard about what happened, and told me that she had dropped out from university as she couldn’t afford it.

it was like a light was turned on.

i knew what i had to do.

i had to support her.

so, i spoke to her, and told her my daughter would have wanted me to help her.

so now i pay her rent, and other expenses, and she has gone back to school to study to be a doctor.

i work two jobs, and both my boys are now working in law enforcement.

and i am happy again.

but i understand mental health.

you are doing good work jeff.”

“thank you jad, so are you” i said as we pulled up to my destination.

“have a great day, and a wonderful life.”

i closed the door, quite emotional, and headed back to the summit.

i was a little early and made my way up to the 25th floor, checked my bag and headed for my second cup of joe in the hour.

the place was pretty much empty, except for one guy.

a canuck named sach.

we chatted.

and i decided on overnight oats, the sequel.

we chatted some more, and it turns out this cat has run across canada.

what the actual!

that’s a long way.

and he raised $330,000 in the process.

wow, there’s a lot of inspirational folk out there.

sach and i really got on, and he headed off to speak at the event, as i navigated my way to various talks and networking opportunities.

the event was truly the best conference i have ever been to, and i am now doing my admin and trying to nurture relationships, watch this space.

sach and i met the next day for a coffee, and the conversation flowed really easy, and he is a really interesting guy, and i think bigmoose have found a kindred spirit.

i landed back in blighty sunday, and then headed to london on wednesday to meet an artist who has signed up for art4good, the delightful charmaine chanakira, and i spent three hours nattering about art, mental health, her journey to become an artist, in her gallery in wimbledon.

we are now brainstorming how we can build art retreats to help people with their mental health, and rediscover art, and use it as therapy, i’m very excited.

finally last night i attended a dinner and fundraiser for the amazing craig maxwell, who has terminal cancer, but has set up his own foundation, raising £633,000 last night, to total the amount he has raised to an incredible £2.3 million, a magical evening, and me and climbing buddy philip have signed up for his everest challenge, watch this space.