This is a story of a very brave young man that I had the pleasure to share 21 years with, because that is all he had to share – 21 years.
I was with him when he took his first breath and I was with him when he took his last. One was a moment of exquisite pleasure and the other was a moment of unimaginable (and never-ending) pain.
He gave life and particularly the last 2 years of struggling with terminal brain cancer, his best shot. He never stopped smiling; he never gave up; never said no more.
He was given 12 months to live. We got 22 months. Christmas 2016, I thought, would be his last Christmas and he would never see 21. However, we made it to Christmas 2017 and on 25 November 2017 we celebrated his 21st birthday.
In December 2017, we found out all the treatments to date weren’t working and he was unlikely to live much longer as the tumour was now extensive and he could “drop dead at any time”.
We tried a few more things but on 28th March 2018 we were told it was all over.
Jack died at 1:45pm on 15th April 2018.
I loved him from the moment Dianne conceived and miss him every minute, of every day. As I write this it is just over one month since he died and the pain is as real and as raw now as it was on that day.
It doesn’t get any better.
This is Jack’s story. I promised him I would write the book and I promised him I would save his life. I intend to keep one of those promises.
JACK EVAN FLEMING (25th November 1996 – 15th April 2018).
RIP
Ken (Dad).