SIMON JAMES BRUNTON 19th July 1982 - 18th April 1998 Simon's Story These pages are in memory of Simon, but we'd like to tell you about our family first. Vince and I have been married for 21 years. (Oh my, that just doesn't seem possible!) We married when I was 18 and Vince was 21, some people thought we were too young, but we showed them! We are so close that often we know what the other is thinking even before they say anything. I think that is because we have been through so much heartache together and seen each other in times of such despair. We got married in 1977, but it wasn't until 1980 that we decided that we wanted to start a family. The first two pregnancies ended when I miscarried at 13 weeks, we were heartbroken, but in those days the doctors just said 'It's just one of those things, wait three months and then try again'. They seemed so heartless, didn't they know that people's dreams were being shattered? Our son Simon was born on 19th July 1982 after a normal pregnancy, (he was just three weeks early). He weighed in at 5lb 4ozs and he was everything we had ever wanted, our world revolved around him. We were blissfully happy. Having a son was something very important and special to Vince. He hadn't had a very good childhood, he came from a broken home, he and his sisters spent seven years in a childrens home and his mum died when he was just a teenager. So it seemed liked having Simon was just making up for part of that and Vince was determined to give Simon everything he hadn't had, a loving family homelife. The first 18 months of Simon's life were perfect and then we felt that something seemed to be wrong, but couldn't put our finger on what it was. Simon was a very solitary child and never really wanted to mix with other children. We took him to the health visitor and our doctor, but they said we were just being over-anxious parents. We then thought perhaps it was just because he really didn't see that many children, and that when he was surrounded by them at mums and tots he was a little overwhelmed by them, he then tended to detach himself and play on his own. As time went on we became more convinced that something was definitely wrong and we were not going to take 'NO' for an answer. We had a real battle to get our health professionals to take us seriously because Simon looked so healthy. It took 18 months for us to get an appointment with a paediatrician who, after lots of tests, sent us to an ear, nose and throat consultant who pronounced that Simon was deaf! We were absolutely devastated, again we were told that it 'just happens'. We were not given any support or information by the hospital, (something which we have played a part in changing over the years), so we just had to go back home and get on with things. We decided then that we needed a positive attitude to the problem and started looking for help ourselves. Simon had to wear two hearing aids from the age of 3, but he never complained, he would wear them from the time he woke up in the morning to the time he went to bed at night. By this time Amy had been born and he would sit and talk to her for hours and I think that really helped his speech. He really adored his little sister from the moment he set his eyes on her. There was never any jealousy, he just loved her so much. Most of the photo's we have of them are cuddly ones.