 |
SIMON JAMES BRUNTON
19th July 1982 - 18th April 1998
Growing stronger every day
Rebuilding our lives
Simon had been asked, some months earlier by the Starlight Foundation,
what in the world he would most like to do. He asked if he could go and visit his Uncle Johnny and Auntie Mary
on the West Coast of Ireland. Starlight made the wish come true and we travelled to Ireland in late March 1997.
We had planned to go in the summer of '96, but we'd had to cancel due to Simon's cancer treatment. Even now,
we daren't put it off until the warmer weather, in case Simon took a turn for the worse. We just packed our bags and set off.
Despite the wheelchair, Vince and Johnny managed to get Simon everywhere he wanted to go, to the beach, around a rocky headland
(thanks to a piggy-back from daddy!), out in a small boat and even onto a floating pontoon used for salmon-breeding!
(Mummy didn't know about the last one until it was all over!) It was lovely to see Simon starting to relax.
He even joked about having a pint of Guinness in one hand and a fishing rod in the other!
A dream come true!
For the remainder of 1997, we concentrated on building Simon up again, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Simon attended school more and more, had physio and occupational therapy, and although he was still confined to a wheelchair
he took up horse-riding and swimming. As usual he put 110% effort into everything he tried and was soon winning rosettes for
horse-riding and certificates for swimming. He even completed a sponsored swim to raise money for the Parents Association
for Seriously Ill Children, which was attached to the hospital we'd been in. His goal had been to swim 50 metres,
but as usual Simon surpassed all expectations by swimming 100 metres. When asked afterwards why he'd decided to swim 100 metres,
he said "I didn't decide, I just kept on going until I was stopped". There were many times when Vince and I wished for as much
energy as Simon seemed to have! It was a long, slow haul, but he was getting a little stronger every day.
Life was incredibly difficult for all of us, but we seemed to be winning the battle against cancer so we didn't mind,
we just thanked God that we were still together as a family.
Being in the water gave Simon a wonderful sense of freedom
In August Simon had to have a routine MRI scan, but they found something on it which they were not too sure about.
They said it could be scar tissue and that they would book us in for another scan just before Christmas.
Oh boy, life certainly was a rollercoaster ride, up one minute and down the next! We spent most of our time trying to convince
ourselves that everything will turn out fine, but it didn't take much to undermine that confidence and have us fearing the worst.
In September '97, Simon started at Ashgate Croft Special School, (Hi guys!) where his needs could be met more fully.
He fell in love with the place from the start and got on so well with everybody. The staff were marvellous, giving each child
their own personal goals to achieve and treating the kids with respect and care. Simon had a wonderful educational care officer called Michael
and they soon became great pals. It was so hard to let Simon go back to school full-time, to know that we would have to share him with others.
We realised we had to give him his independence. If he survived the cancer then he would want to go on and lead as full a life as possible.
Simon also started attending the local college for cookery lessons. Cooking was his favourite pastime and he loved the weekly sessions.
He certainly brought home some 'interesting' dishes!
Simon and Michael soon became friends
Simon was gaining so much confidence in himself and, with support, was able to walk from room to room at home. The closer he got to his goal,
the more he worked at it, he would even walk around the pool table at school or use his wonderful chest-high walking aid to walk the length of a room.
The hospital had some problems with one of the MRI scanners, so Simon's scan appointment was put off until early January. Simon was doing so amazingly well,
that we didn't see there was any need for a scan. Christmas 1997 was another big family affair, but this time we could do some of the travelling because
Simon was feeling so much better. It seemed such a milestone to have reached another Christmas, but we still couldn't even begin to relax.
We couldn't forget what we'd been through or that we had twice almost lost Simon.
We never, ever lost the fear that the cancer might return.
|
