Michael's Story
About Michael
Michael was born in 1974 to young parents, Yvonne and Robert. He was their first child. His parents separated when he was two and a half. He was a healthy baby with silky blond hair and big brown eyes that would capture the hearts of strangers.
At the tender age of three, just a few months short of his fourth birthday, his mother noticed he was having trouble weight-bearing on his right leg. The unthinkable… one X-ray later came the diagnosis of bone cancer (Ewing’s sarcoma). His innocent world would never be the same!
Michael endured the brutal regime of surgeries, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, only to find the treatments weren’t working… The cancer had spread. He was terminal!
Despite these odds, Michael and his mother didn’t give up. He defied the odds and, after a period of natural therapies, he was miraculously cured.
The orthodox treatment left devastation in its wake. He was left with a very short leg as a consequence of radiotherapy and terminal heart disease (cardiomyopathy) caused by the chemotherapy. He underwent a heart transplant at the age of fourteen.
Michael succumbed to death at the age of nineteen from heart rejection but left a mark that can never be erased. He was here, and he counted.
Michael’s courage, humour, spirit and determination to lead a “normal” life are captured in his journey. He was truly remarkable.