Still giving
Joshua’s Journey is parents’ way of continuing to show the big heart their son had
Making other people smile and laugh is what Joshua Loughlin loved to do most.
He was kind and was always eager to share his blessings in life.
Joshua died of a rare disorder called Prayer Willi Syndrome on Feb. 1 of this year. The son of Corner Brook’s Jamie and Tonya Loughlin was just 21 years old.
The Loughlins have been busy spreading their son’s love for helping others. Through the Joshua’s Journey Facebook Page, they have been collecting stuffed toys for the Janeway Children’s Hospital in St. John’s — the place where Joshua’s life began — and they will deliver them to the sick children next month.
His parents have been dedicated to keeping their son’s memory alive by continuing to help other people because they believe that’s what their son would have wanted them to do.
The Loughlins created a Facebook page called Joshua’s Journey two years ago, initially for the purpose of keeping family and friends posted on their son’s health status, the challenges he had to deal with along the road, and give them insight into the personality of their boy.
Tonya Loughlin said all his life her son wanted to give stuff to people. If he got something brand new, even if it was a toy he just had to have and had to order from the United States, Joshua would give it up in a heartbeat when another child saw it and got excited about it.
“The first thing he would do
is say, ‘They can have it, that’s OK, hey mom,’” she said. “That’s who Joshua was. Very caring and a big heart.”
The Loughlins have been busy spreading their son’s love for helping others. Through the Joshua’s Journey Facebook Page, they have been collecting stuffed toys for the Janeway
Children’s Hospital in St. John’s — the place where Joshua’s life began — and they will deliver them to the sick children next month.
They also collected a bunch of stuffed toys from a birthday party they threw for Joshua on July 9 and handed them out to young children across the island
over the summer months during their travels.
They have an open house planned for Halloween at their home because Joshua loved special occasions and being able to trick-or-treat was certainly his favourite of them all. All of the cool costumes will be welcome and there will be
some scary props in place to ensure some nice photo opportunities.
“It just makes somebody smile, but we do it in honour of Joshua because we know that’s what Joshua would like to do,” she said.