THE LAST POST - ARMISTICE DAY - 11.11.09

Yesterday, On Armistice Day,

We remebered that at this moment in time, across the world, there are the wounded and the dead being bought home to their families, after fighting for Queen and Country.

On this day, we said goodbye to one of our bravest soldiers,

a very special soldier of his own making,

one who had battled a personal invasion,

and fought every day for 3 years to win his own war.

The enemy was strong......too strong,

for all the ammunition fired at it, the enemy was relentless in it's advancement,

this army fought against our brave soldier, till he could defend himself no more.

May our soldier, who was so brave, go now to rest,

knowing that he gave his all,

and we can ask no more than he now be at peace.

God bless and sleep well.

Bradley's funeral took place yesterday, above is a tribute I wrote and was read out beautifully by my Sister Claire.

The day was a good day in the scheme of things, solemn and respectful where needed, but jubilant and celebratory in the nature our Bradley would have appreciated.

The church was filled with the sound of singing and everyone commented on the choice of the songs played in Bradley's memory and the hymns which were enjoyed by all.

Everyone respected Bradley's wishes for the day to be colourful and rugby fuelled, this was also evident in the fundraising efforts which included an Auction of one of Bradley's signed Wasps rugby balls which along with a balloon release raised an awesome amount in excess of £1500 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful flowers, most of course reproduced in his rugby colours.

I would also like to give a huge thanks to everyone in Abbots Ripton who dug deep into their hearts and gave Bradley a fantastic reception, and made sure that everyone had a nice hot meal after a cold afternoon and we as a family all thank you sincerely.

Bradley's funeral will take place at St. Andrews Church, Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire on Wednesday 11th November at 2pm.

We look forward to seeing as many people there as would love to attend and to remember Bradley in hopefully what will be a fitting tribute to his loving and joyful nature.

As fitting with Bradley's sunny nature, he requested that Gentlemen wear a Rugby Shirt or Suit with a Rugby Club Tie and he would like ladies to be dressed prettily. This was his request that everyone be bright, pretty and rugby colourful !!!!

Be prepared for some 'interesting' music choices too, and have your singing voices ready.

We as a family are requesting family flowers only, but if you wish to do so contributions/donations would be gratefully received and will be donated to the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

Below are links to some accomodation locally if needed, one is in the village and another is a mere short drive away.


http://www.thethreehorseshoes.com/index.html



http://www.premierinn.com/pti/home.do

Any concerns - please call 01487 773281

My Beautiful, Brave Bradley passed away last night peacefully in his sleep in the arms of his Dad, his Nan and Myself.

Sleep Well My Darling - 11.03.90 - 29.10.09

Today Bradley received a wonderful gift and a lovely letter from Dave Larham, Community Rugby Manager at London Wasps Rugby Club.
I would like to share a quote with you that means a lot to Dave and reminds him of Bradley.

''There are two kinds of rugby players boys.
There's the honest ones and there's the rest.
The honest player gets up in the morning and looks at himself in the mirror and sets his standard, sets his stall out, and says, ''I'm gonna get better, I'm gonna get better, I'm gonna get better.''
He doesn't complain about the food, or the beds, or the referees, or all these sorts of things. These are just peripheral things that weak players are always complaining about.......the dishonest player''.

Jim Telfer, Coach, British and Irish Lions 1997.

''Once A Wasp, Always A Wasp''

Our beautiful and brave Bradley is still showing an enormous will to live, and fighting to stay with us for every extra day that he can muster.

He is fairly stable at the moment, a couple of days we have had to have the nurse out to give extra medication at times of confusion and agitation, but overall he is showing what a fantastic spirit he has and really tries to still be as normal as he can.

He still manages at least once a day to make what must seem like a monumentous journey into the Lounge to sit and watch some TV or a DVD and is still managing to eat small amounts of food when he takes a fancy to something.

I am so proud of him, he shows such courage, and never complains.

His want and need to be with us never fails to amaze me, he smiles at me, just a little smile, but a smile nonetheless and completely melts my heart every day.

Just a little hug each day, a hold of my hand and a gentle squeeze, his beautiful eyes still twinkly when he smiles is all I need to get through the day, and just to do what I have to, what any parent would do, nothing more, nothing less, just be there for him, for whatever he needs, no matter what, no matter how big or small.

Personal Message from Michaela.

Over the last couple of weeks I have received some beautiful, emotional and extremely supportive messages from you all.

Whether they have been left here on Bradley's Blog, personal Email or to my Facebook page.

I would like to say a huge thankyou to each and every one of you, some of them say ''do not respond - no need'' or ''don't worry about a reply'', but every one of you deserves a reply from me to say that I really appreciate every word that has been said in support for not just myself and Bradley but for every member of our family who is having to go through this experience right now.

Some of you I have never met, and because of this the message sometimes means so much more, these people have reached out to me, through FB or the Bone Cancer Trust, or just through word of mouth or after a google search and have come across this page.

There are people from all corners of the earth and your messages arrive on my Blackberry in the middle of the night sometimes, but I wake and read them every time and I would truly hope to meet some of you one day, each one of you and each messaage is special. Some of you have already travelled this journey, other Mum's, Wives, Partners whose loved ones have gone through the trial and battle that is Bone Cancer.

Tomorrow is my 40th Birthday, and I truly never believed when bringing Bradley home 2 weeks ago that he would still be here to say ''Happy Birthday'' to his Mum, for my own reasons i'm putting my special day on hold, to enjoy my time with my Son, and to hopefully hear him say those words which I thought I never would.

So to all of you, once again THANK YOU

Just a quick line to let all know that Bradley is still fighting and determined not to leave us just yet, he has been eating quite well considering he hasn't eaten for the last 6 months !!!

He is comfortable, pain is all under control and monitored daily by the doctors and district nurses who are doing a fabulous job of taking care of his medication needs.

We try to make the most of the time we have left with Bradley, watching silly DVD's and having fun while he can, although he is sleeping more and more over the last couple of days.

He still loves his cuddles and while we can we really make the most of these, today we snuggled up on the sofa for 3 hrs and had a nice snooze together which was absolutely lovely.

Will keep you all posted and thank you once again for all your lovely messages.

Michaela, Richard and Bradley and all family.

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