fbpx
星期日, 11 月 17, 2024

The life and journey of Daniel Rush

Daniel Rush, 20, was diagnosed with cancer six weeks ago.

A Pakuranga couple is facing a third tragedy as their son battles terminal cancer.

Six weeks ago Daniel Rush, 20, was living a normal life at home with his parents, Stephen and Claire.

He was searching for a job to kick-start his goal towards being a computer programmer and website designer after a rough year with the arrival of Covid-19.

He was an avid gamer with a talented singing voice, Claire said, as they could often hear him through their bedroom wall.

He would raid the fridge, go fishing and camping, attend church and enjoy Star Wars.

“He’s very passionate and endlessly kind,” Stephen said. Then the headaches started.

After a visit to his GP and prescribed antibiotics, his headache persisted. He was taken to Middlemore Hospital where they discovered a mass in his brain.

He was sent to Auckland Hospital where they performed a nine-and-a-half-hour surgery on June 23. They found that the mass was an aggressive form of cancer.

“It was devastating,” Stephen said. “It still is. It felt like Armageddon.”

The first tragedy to befall the Rush family came in 2007 with the suicide of Amy, Daniel’s sister and Claire’s daughter from her first marriage. “It hit all of us very hard,” Stephen and Claire said.

A year later, as they were still struggling with grief, their youngest child, Sophie, passed away aged 9 months.

On top of that, Daniel’s grandmother – Stephen’s mother – died three years ago.

“Daniel would ask, ‘Why is it that everyone I love dies?'”

Despite the heartbreaks, Daniel’s kindness and faith has not faltered. “He’s an angel,” Stephen and Claire said.

Throughout his six-week stay in hospital, Daniel’s condition slowly deteriorated.

He was moved into palliative care in a retirement home. The family called more than 80 places before they secured a bed for him.

“It was extremely difficult looking for a facility for him,” Claire said. “There are no palliative care facilities for people between 18 and 50.”

Some of Daniel’s favourite things, Stephen said, were spending time up north on a farm interacting with the animals, visiting the Coromandel with his grandparents and seeing Waterworld as well as searching for gold in the rivers.

“We’ve had 20 good years with him,” Stephen said.

He and Claire also loved Pokemon Go.

“I can’t count the number of times they’ve stopped to say, ‘It’s a site! We have to collect them!” Stephen said. “It’s classic.”

A family friend, Leanne Manaro, set up a Givealittle page to fund some of Daniel’s bucket list activities such as visiting Auckland Zoo and Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium.

The response, Stephen said, has been overwhelming with more than $20,000 donated.

“Everyone has been amazing,” he said. “Thank you to everyone who has donated and to all the family and friends that have supported us and to the Eastgate Community Church for their love and support.”

By clicking to accept for Times Online to be translated into Mandarin, you accept and acknowledge that it has been translated for your convenience using 3 rd party translation software. No automated translation is perfect, nor is it intended to replace human translators and are provided "as is." No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, or correctness of any translations made from English into Mandarin. Some content (such as images, videos etc.) may not be accurately translated due to the limitations of the translation software. The official text is the English version of the website. Any discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect and should not be relied on by you for any decision-making purposes. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of the information contained in the translated website, refer to the English version of the website which is the official edited version.

点击同意将《时代在线》翻译成中文,即表示您接受并确认,该翻译是使用第三方软件为您方便起见而 提供的。请注意自动翻译并非完美无缺,也不旨在取代人工翻译,只能作为参考而已。对于英文到中文 的任何翻译的准确性、可靠性或正确性,我们不提供任何明示或暗示的保证。由于翻译软件的限制,某 些内容(如图片、视频等)可能无法准确翻译。   英文版本是本网站的官方正式文本。翻译中产生的任何差异或错误均不具有约束力,不具有法律效力, 您不应依赖由自动翻译软件生成的版本做出任何决策。如果对翻译后的网站中包含的信息的准确性有任 何疑问,请参阅本网站的官方编辑英文版本。

- 广告
- 广告

更多信息来自《泰晤士报在线

- 广告

最新

- 广告
- 广告