All about Jack

We were told if Jack arrests in the ambulance on the way up, they wouldn't revive him. We followed the ambulance all the way to Bristol praying to God to keep Jack alive long enough to get to Bristol. By a miracle Jack survived the journey and we arrived in Bristol about 7pm.

Jack was shortly taken into theatre to have the shunt put into his head, but at that point I was relieved he was in the right hands. After a couple of hours we were allowed to see him in the Intensive Care room. We couldn't believe the difference now that Jack had had a shunt put in, he was crying like he was getting better. He was in an incubator with bandages all around his head. We were just happy to see he was alive. Less than a week later he was transferred back to Exeter and allowed home again.

Jack attended Honeylands every Friday morning in the Beehive which is for children under 2 years of age and as he got older he moved up to the Honeybees group which is for children between 2 and 4 years. Jack used to love music therapy and all the singing the group did. He would laugh and smile when music was played.

When Jack reached 4 he was old enough to go to school so we visited Millwater School in Honiton where Jack as going to be sent. We were shown around all the classes with all the other special children and they all said 'Hello Jack' when he came into the room. We knew Jack would fit in at the school so we were glad he was going there. All the children used to say 'Hello Jack' whenever he got on the school bus in the morning to go to school. Jack used to love going to school and he would always bring home a picture that he made or something that they cooked in class like biscuits or cakes. We would hear from his teachers how he had been laughing all day.

Jacks asleep with Adam's whaleThen the worst day of my life came.......the 13th October 2004. I got up to get ready for college as usual and went into Jack's room to see him. I noticed he was face down on the bed which sent alarm bells ringing. I turned him over and noticed has wasn't breathing. I picked him up, took him into my bedroom and woke Beth up saying Jack wasn't breathing. Beth gave Jack mouth-to-mouth while I telephoned emergency services and within 10 minutes a doctor and ambulance arrived. They tried pumping his heart for about 10-20 minutes and decided to take him to hospital. I had to follow in my car as there was no room for me in the ambulance.

I got held up in the morning traffic and by the time I got there I knew something was wrong just by the look of one of the ambulance crew's face. She showed me into the family room of the A & E unit were there were two A & E nurses and they said 'Sorry, there was nothing we could do'. We sat their all day as immediate family came in as they wanted to see Jack one last time.

I can remember sitting next to Beth just staring out the window between tears and noticed a single white feather come down from the sky, falling slowly. I watched it and thought it was a sign from Jack to say he was alright. It was until later that I asked Beth if she saw that feather and she said she'd prayed for a sign to let us know that Jack was alright.

I really wish I had gone out and picked up that feather. The time had come in the late afternoon for Jack to be taken over to the Chapel of Rest. I decided I wanted to carry him as I knew this was going to be the last time I would see his face or to hold him near. I remember how heavy he felt. The worst bit was when I had to hand home over because I knew that was it.