My nephew, Elliott Casey was presented with the Wirral Young Hero award last night at a special function in New Brighton in the category, fighting serious illness. Elliott was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer 3 years ago and following an operation to remove a tumor, the size of a cricket ball, from his head, he stared death in the face and decided he was going no where!! Since then, he has undergone massive amounts of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the World Class Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool. Elliott has not only survived but he has done so with immense bravery and dignity while still finding compassion and love for other sick children around him. Although only 14, he has come to terms with the fragile, low expectation and complex nature of his illness with good humour, an infectious smile and continuous gratitude for everyone around him. He has fought back against tremendous odds to return to school and despite memory and serious hormonal problems and energy deficiency issues, he is now catching up with his studies. He was a budding rugby player before his illness but for obvious reasons, he now has to avoid contact sports but instead of giving up, he has changed direction and is now playing cricket on a regular basis. Elliott is also the most well mannered boy I know, for he takes time to thank everyone around him no matter how small the help he is given. Doctors, nurses, teachers, family, friends and others who have been close to Elliott during his illness adore him and are confounded by his spirit, steel impregnated toughness and the will to live that he has demonstrated and continues to do so on a daily basis. So what does the future hold for Elliott? Long life and happiness is what I pray for but whatever the future, I console myself in the knowledge that Elliotts appetite for life and quest to get back to normal will continue undiminished. Elliott cannot do this alone and thankfully he has been blessed with a marvelous loving and supportive family who never stop caring for him and encouraging him to succeed. His mum, my darling sister-in-law Lisa has to be singled out for special praise, for she was fighting her own battle with breast cancer during Elliotts illness and she went through a mastectomy at the same time her son was in his darkest moments. Somehow miraculously Elliott and Lisa created a two-way channel of love and compassion between them during their illness in a way that cannot be explained with mere words and this gave them strength. So this story of heroism is not restricted to Elliott alone and for sure involves Lisa, his dad Greg, sisters India and Hermoine, who also went through serious health issues while her mum and brother were fighting for life and of course the is the greater circle of family and friends. There is a lot more to tell of this story but I just feel very privileged to be able to pay homage to a special boy on his special night, when he received his young hero award along with other remarkable young people, in other categories, who all had a tear jerking story to tell. L Uncle dP xxx
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:30:05 +0000
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