What does bravery really mean? Is it the bravery to hold on when you know the end is close and the battle you fought so hard is lost, or is it the capacity to face terrifying things?
For a sixteen-year-old girl, bravery meant standing by her father, who never wavered even under the most trying circumstances.
A man by the name of Tom Mitchell told the following tale.
This loving father remembered his daughter complaining that she didn’t feel well and requesting to be taken to the doctor because she thought she had a sinus infection.
Yes, sweetie, I’ll come get you tomorrow after school. If you’d like, we can have supper together afterward,” he replied.
The next day, the two did enjoy dinner together, but it was not at their preferred eatery. Rather, kids were having difficulty swallowing the food at Fairfax Hospital’s pediatric oncology unit. These father and daughter would have more than 450 meals there together, not to mention the hundreds more in the years that followed.
Instead of a sinus infection, his daughter had a massive tumor that had gone to her lungs and collapsed one.
It was a genuine struggle. Even though they knew it wouldn’t be simple, they were committed to fighting as a team.
Hodgkin’s illness, stage four, was Shayla’s diagnosis.
Tom tried to convey to them what it meant to be brave and withstand the trials and problems life placed in front of them by purchasing two sterling silver “feather” bracelets and placing one on each of their wrists.
Then he made three promises: he would stay at the hospital every night until Shayla was cancer-free; he would wear the bracelet until then; and he would persevere as long as she did.
Shayla’s cancer struggle dragged on for years, during which she had blood transfusions, chemotherapy, radiation, painkillers, and more medication. Her body could not take all of this, and as a result, her heart grew weak and a defibrillator had to be quickly implanted within her chest.
Shayla was getting ready for chemotherapy one day when she started screaming, “Help me, Dad! I’m shocked by it! ..I’m shocked by it.
Tom continued his explanation of what had occurred. I drew her in and gave her my strongest embrace. It almost blew her out of my arms and stunned her once more. But I resisted letting go. That’s exactly how I hugged her, fiercely as I could. As swiftly as it had begun, it stopped startling her, and we hurried to the hospital.
As it turned out, the device’s maker had to recall thousands of them because they were malfunctioning, and Shayla’s chest contained one of them.
More chemotherapy sessions, blood transfusions, a botched bone marrow transplant, and more uncomfortable sleepless nights ensued. But until the very last, Shayla never once considered giving up.
“How in the world was I meant to talk to my sweet kid about this? How would I ever have the courage to tell my daughter that she was going to die? There’s a quote I once heard that kind of captures my thoughts. “Can a guy who is terrified still be brave? He can only be bold at that moment. I had to have courage for HER! Of course, I did have that talk with her, and despite how unbelievable it may sound, it ended up being the most incredible, lovely, magical, and fantastic conversation I have ever had in my life. I sincerely pray you never, ever have to have it. Tom gave a portion.
“Dad, am I still brave?,” she murmured in his ear.
Then he met her gaze directly and saw into her soul. He was aware that she was beyond tired of battling and that it was becoming impossible for her, but he suddenly came to a chilling realization. She exhibited bravery for him rather than for herself.
Shayla tragically passed away a few days later, but her father will always remember her bravery and strength.
Shayla, rest in peace.
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Motorist Fills Pothole Without Consent- Private Company Gets Enraged
Authorities in Cornwall, England, along with the Public Works Department, have been searching for an enigmatic driver who allegedly took matters into their own hands and filled in a massive pothole in the center of the road with cement.
Although residents of Cornwall had to endure extra difficulties to avoid the region at the top of Tanhouse Road and Bodmin Hill in Lostwithiel due to the enormous hole that was in the midst of the tarmac, British people are well aware that the roads aren’t always the greatest.
The road was declared formally closed at the start of April. A representative for the Cornwall Council stated that the road’s surface degradation was caused by an ongoing dispute with drainage.
However, following a month of total government inaction, an unnamed person became quite agitated over the enormous pothole and made the decision to personally fill it with concrete over the first weekend of May. For a little while, the do-it-yourself fix succeeded, and the road was briefly reopened. However, Cormac, the road repair business employed by Cornwall Council, once again stopped the road since their crew hadn’t completed the work in a formal manner.
The Cornwall Highways chiefs are currently searching for the individual who is in charge of this. They added that the signs had been taken down without permission by an unidentified person who had completed the work.
The firm stated that until it catches up with the backlog of pothole repairs, the route would be closed until June 9th. “If information regarding who carried out the works becomes known in the community, I would be grateful if details could be shared,” stated a manager at Cornwall Highways. Colin Martin, the Cornwall councilor for Lanreath and Lostwithiel, said that this pothole served as the “ideal illustration of how the public sector as a whole is collapsing as a result of underfunding.”
“The road has been closed again and will remain closed until it is ‘properly’ repaired by Cormac,’ but they say this could be weeks away as all available teams have been diverted to filling smaller potholes on roads which are still open,” Mr. Martin said in an interview with Cornwall Live. The cash allocated for preventative maintenance and road resurfacing has been reduced by the Conservative-run Cornwall Council throughout the last two years. This imprudent choice has led to potholes popping up all throughout Cornwall more quickly than Cormac can patch them.
This is not the first time a citizen has taken up the role of the local government. A Toronto citizen noticed in 2017 that the community garden would benefit greatly from a new set of park stairs. However, the city estimated that it would cost between $65,000 and $150,000. Thus, for a meager $550, the man built it himself. Continue reading to learn what they did since, of course, the city was not at all pleased.
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