I want you to think about two people tonight who you have never met or heard of: Paul and Karen Ledsham who last Thursday lost their second child, Harrison (12), to a rare form of bone cancer. It is unimaginable to lose one child but my heart bleeds for Paul and Karen. In 2009, they lost their daughter Abigail to Sandhoff’s disease, which is a rare inherited disorder that progressively destroys nerve cells (neurons) in the brain and spinal cord. How must they feel today?
Obviously, I don’t know the family but I remember the story well enough. Back in February of this year, St Helens played South Sydney Rabbitohs, the club owned by Russell Crowe, in the rugby league world club championships. The Saints were led on to the pitch by young Harrison, who had his leg amputated because of the cancer, and was accompanied by captain Jon Wilkin. The great Aussie full back Greg Inglis made a point of coming across to Harrison to shake his hand before the game. I found it extremely moving at the time and it was even more poignant tonight when, upon hearing of the boy’s death, Inglis tweeted: “Just heard some sad news.. RIP Harrison.. Deepest sympathy to all family…” Bear in mind that in Australia, Inglis is a true sporting superstar, yet he remembered his encounter with this special little boy.
To hear Harrison has died fills me with sadness. I remember his little face on the TV, the big smile on his face when the teams lined up, the look of happiness when Inglis made the point of coming to say hello. I never met him, never got near meeting him, but his face, his story lingered me with. And now he is gone. Another victim of cancer, that most evil of diseases.
Shining through yet another tragedy is the sheer humanity in all of us. There will be nothing that will console Harrison’s mum and dad who have lost another child, but all around him, from his family and friends, there are good people doing good things and there is lots of love.
I am trying to look for the positives but of course there aren’t any really, apart from the fact that Harrison is no longer in pain and even that may not be a positive to the parents of a son.
But I’ll remember the pictures of that little boy and the people who made effort to make his final days better.
