DAD’S SPECIAL DAY IN
BABY Maxie giggles and gurgles as his little fingers try to tear open his first Christmas presents.
Santa is there and snowflakes flutter. It’s a magical moment for any parent.
But for dad Jay Clark, every second is extra precious.
Little Maxie, 10 months, was the son Jay and girlfriend Caroline Donoghue were told they could never have.
Tragically, he’s also the child Jay will never see grow up.
Jay was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months before Maxie was born. He feared he would never see the tot’s first Christmas.
So with help from the Sunday Mirror, Santa delivered prezzies early to their home in Pevensey, East Sussex.
There were magical moment for Jay, 41 – none more so than watching Maxie see snow for the first time. Albeit with a little help from a snow machine.
Wiping flakes from his face, beaming Jay says: “Words can’t describe how overwhelmed and grateful we are.
“Today had to be as special as possible because Maxie’s so young. The pictures are memories that will never fade away.
“And when he reads this one day, I hope he’s had a happy life and I hope he’s learned from Daddy’s experiences, like dealing with life’s adversities.
“I hope he’s kept his personality and is still making people laugh as much as he made his Daddy laugh.
“I want him to know that Daddy misses him and he will always miss him.”
Jay refuses to be upset in front of his son. Privately, as he steps into Maxie’s nursery, he can’t help but shed a few tears.
STRENGTH
But a smile returns – brought on by Maxie’s bemusement at his new 4ft teddy.
It’s Maxie that has given Jay so much strength. The doting dad has hundreds of pictures of them having fun together, from wearing matching onesies to taking the first swimming lesson.
Maxie’s arrival should have capped a happy union for the couple, who met two years ago.
Plasterer Jay and dog groomer Caroline had written off any hope of a family, as both had been led to believe they were infertile. Caroline, 37, had already spent £21,000 on failed rounds of IVF.
Yet in May last year they got the shock news that she was pregnant. Caroline says: “Jay and I were over the moon, overjoyed about this miracle pregnancy.”
Their bliss was shattered when Caroline was seven months pregnant.
Jay fell ill with crippling stomach pain. His skin turned jaundiced because a tumour was pressing against his bile duct. The discolouration was at least a warning sign, one which many victims of pancreatic cancer – the so-called “silent killer” – don’t get.
Most sufferers are in their 70s and, when spotted, some have just days or weeks to live.
While Jay was at least g iv e n a fighting chance, a hammer blow came three weeks l a t e r wh e n surgeons found the tumour was inoperable as it was growing on an artery. A month later