Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
There’s no pain now for Jayden... we’re thankful he went peacefully
Carl & superheroes’ farewell to tragic cancer lad
BOXING champ Carl Frampton and superheroes gathered yesterday to say farewell to a little boy who was laid to rest after his cancer fight.
Jayden Morrow, six, was remembered at Willowfield Parish, a church just meters from the family home in East Belfast where he spent his last hours.
He died on Saturday after battling the disease he was diagnosed with at just 18 months of age.
His blue coffin, decorated with Superman logos, was carried to the service by all his favourite characters.
And before his dad, uncles and grandfather carried him inside the church, they formed a guard of honour for the little boy who fought so hard for so long.
The Venerable David Mcclay, the rector who led yesterday’s service, described cancer as an ugly and destructive disease.
Hundreds gathered to sing My Lighthouse, one of Jayden’s favourites, and they ended with the children’s hymn Jesus Loves Me This I Know.
The youngster had endured numerous gruelling treatments on his arduous cancer journey.
Each time he rallied but months later he relapsed sending him back to hospital three times for a new diagnosis and medical care from his dedicated team of cancer specialists.
Last year his parents Maggie and Ian agreed to stop treatment to give their exhausted little boy a break.
And again he was given a few months’ of life cancer free however the disease returned for the fourth time and more treatment followed. But with his parents and baby brother Jaxon by his side Jayden slipped away.
His dad Ian told the Mirror: “He’s OK now. He’s safe and there’s no pain. We’re thankful he went so peacefully.
“We will deal with the pain this leaves us in but the main thing is we couldn’t ask him to have done any more.
“We will never forget all the time we had with him, his big smiles, his big character and all the laughter and the fight he put in every time we had bad news.
“He never complained, he never gave up and if he could have fought some more he would have. It’s very hard to understand or explain but today we feel happy for our wee man. Jayden’s been the most brilliant wee son to me and Maggie and a fantastic big brother to Jaxon.
“We know we’ll get through this for Jaxon and we promised Jayden he was safe and needed to have a big sleep and he just closed his eyes.
“The fight was over and he fought so well, our brave wee man.”
Carl responded to a call for help from the Angel Wishes and remained in contact with the family long after.
He said: “Jayden was a brilliant wee boy. He was a big fighter and a real hero.”
Donations were requested for Angel Wishes care of Ravenhill Funeral Service.
EAST BELFAST YESTERDAY