Yesterday, I attended the wake of a classmate's 16-year-old daughter. She had passed away from a congenital heart disorder which she had been diagnosed with in the antenatal period & had not been expected to live beyond the first weeks of life. She miraculously beat the odds & survived till her 16th year without any corrective surgery.
I cannot fathom the heartache & sorrow which my friend & his wife must be going through on losing their child. Although they had 16 good & fulfilling years with this miracle child, & have 3 other children to help them bear their loss, she was still their daughter.
I cannot imagine losing either of my children, and hope that I will never have to go through the experience...
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I think I know who this is. Is this a girl from Fairfield? If she is who I think it is....I didn't attend Fairfield Sec, only Fairfield Primary but I heard about it with great sadness from my friends. August 25, 2005?
Yup, she was.
It's really uncanny, I never expected the walls to be breached between the intensely personal and an externally medical/political such as yours.
Well I'll post her memory tribute if anyone wants.
It's a one year anniversary ...
If I may permitted to give some background:
The whole school felt sorrow as well; everyone in her class, and especially her best friend since kindergarten took it especially hard. The school suspended lessons for the week to grieve.
As I was aware, she was permanently excused from PE, and received a scolding for attempting to play basketball that day. But when the teacher's back was turned because of talking with another teacher, she shot a few hoops, when she suddenly collapsed.
But what is one to do when they have been excluded from playing sports for 16 years; is that not equally tormenting?
It is rather haunting when it occurs while overseas, and one is not physically there to be with one's friends...
Her father was my JC & med school classmate. He gave me a very good insight to what her very full life was like. For them to have her for 16 years, when the initial pre-natal prognosis was so grim was, in itself, a miracle.
He told me what had happened on the day of her passing. I can't imagine how traumatic it must have been not only for her family, but for those who saw her collapse...
Never meant for this blog to be purely medical/political or however one may want to categorise it...just a creative outlet for myself & a way of writing down my memoirs before my brain cells die. Call it a result of my mid-life crisis, if you will!
Here's to life...
:)
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