The mother of a boy who had cancer twice even before he turned 2 says that spending time with family is the ultimate and the best Christmas gift.
Cork lad Tom Tom Cahill was just 14 months old when experts found a tumor that is the size of a grapefruit on Valentine's Day back in 2014.
After doing chemo and surgery to remove his left kidney, his mother Paula was shocked when they discovered that there is another tumor on his left lung, just a few months after his procedure.
The diagnosis
Doctors said that the tumor was so big that the boy who had cancer only has days to live.
The brave boy who had cancer will turn 6 next week will spend another year of his birthday in the hospital, as well as Christmas before making a miraculous recovery. Because of the young boy's situation, their family learned to appreciate even the simplest and smallest things in life, not to mention their realization of what is the best Christmas gift.
The best Christmas gift
Paula said that for them, Christmas time has always brought them many memories. She said that it was Christmas in 2016 when her son was in a hospital battling cancer for the second time. Throughout Christmas, the boy was in a critical condition and there were even days when she did not know what the morning would bring.
The mother shared her experience walking by shopfronts with expensive gifts on display and she could not help but think to herself that there was only one gift, the best Christmas gift, that she truly wanted and that was for his son to be better.
She even added that she hears people stressing and working themselves up about buying things and getting organized. She wanted to walk up to them and tell them to stop and said that they should just focus on spending time with their family. She said that it is already the best Christmas gift.
A getaway for the family
Paula and her family went to Barretstown for the first time soon after their son became ill and have visited twice since then. She said that their family is now enjoying simple fun and are even planning to celebrate Christmas as a whole family.
Their trip to the said town was supported by the children's charity based in Kildare. The said charity supports families who have been through serious illness with special relaxing programs and camps.
The said activities were simple, but they are all about allowing families to just enjoy and forget about hospitals and simply spend their time together.
Paula said that with the said program, they can make their fun, not to mention that the activities bring them back to the basics of simply being there together as a family. After all, being there with the whole family is the best Christmas gift.
Currently, because of the pandemic, Barretstown had to cancel many of its events. To overcome this, they are offering programs online to still cater to the families and to be of help to them.
