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The bond between a parent and child is unbreakable; the love we feel is
pure and true. As loving, devoted parents we want our children with us
always, watching with love and pride as they grow and flourish and
wishing for them to be healthy and happy.
For some of us, this is not to be...
Our beautiful, precious firstborn son, Ben, was born at 10.24am on Sunday
23rd December 1990. From the second he entered this world, he brought nothing
but joy to his devoted family. Ben thrived within the love and devotion that was
poured upon him and grew into a truly amazing, loving, caring young man of
whom his family will always be extremely proud.
Our lives changed forever on 23rd November 2005, exactly one month before Ben's
15th Birthday. After several weeks of balance and co-ordination problems Ben was
diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The pain and devastation that this news brought
to our family is indescribable. Even more painful was having to sit by and watch
as the news was broken to Ben. His face crumpled and he sobbed and sobbed as
his dad and I held him.
Ben fought his illness for over 14 months but by December 2006 he could no
longer walk, his speech was very slurred and he was having great difficulty
swallowing. His 16th Birthday on 23rd December 2006 and Christmas Day
were extremely difficult for Ben but he saw them through with such courage
and dignity, no family could possibly be more proud or more in awe.
Ben and his close family moved into the Donna Louise Children's Hospice
on 26th December 2006. His condition deteriorated steadily throughout
January and in his final week he lapsed into unconsciousness. He did briefly
wake up the morning before he died - I believe this was his time to see his family
one last time. He passed away on Saturday 3rd February 2007, surrounded
by his loving, devoted family.
Ben brought sunshine and laughter to our lives. He was gorgeous, kind,
caring, thoughtful, a bit cheeky, and truly lovable. Everybody that knew
Ben loved him; he was that kind of guy. His braveness and courage
throughout his illness was amazing.
We will be forever grateful to the truly dedicated staff of Donna Louise
Children's Hospice, who gave wonderful care and support to Ben and us during
his last few weeks of life. They made an unbearable time bearable, helped us to see
that it was possible to do what we had thought was impossible, and made us feel
we were never alone. They still give us continuing support and counselling, which
has been invaluable and immeasurable - we cannot thank them enough.
click here to find out how you can help ensure our services are always there for the children and families who need us>>
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