I thought I’d be alone grieving ... but I’ve just shared most incredible day of my life with the two most amazing men
SON’S FIGHT FOR LIFE TURNS TO DOUBLE JOY
VICKY Cliffe typed a message on Facebook and pressed send... her heart breaking as she reached out to friends.
The mum was delivering the awful news that her critically ill 14-year-old son Leo was unlikely to see 16.
She asked pals for help to make his last months special. But she could never have dreamed of what was to come.
Old school friend Scott Carty made contact and became a rock as she cared for Leo. Friendship would turn to love and, last month, they were married.
Best of all, plucky Leo – who played Cupid – was best man after a rare procedure saved his life. He is now 20.
Hairdresser Vicky said: “The whole wedding day was a dream come true.
Rare
“I’ve not only found love but to have Leo walk me down the aisle was amazing. I seriously thought I’d be completely alone, grieving, but now I’ve just shared the most incredible day of my life with the two most amazing men I’ve ever met. Miracles do happen!”
Leo was born with rare congenital condition Williams Syndrome, which can cause heart disease, developmental delays and learning disabilities.
He has had more than 50 operations, including major open-heart surgery.
Vicky, 44, was always determined to make sure Leo,who also suffered kidney problems, lived life to the full.
But weeks before he turned 15, London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital said it could do no more.
“The doctors said I should make the most of the time we had left together,” said Vicky. “We’d reached the end of the road. Leo’s blood pressure was so high that more surgery would put potentially fatal pressure on his heart. I felt my world had fallen to pieces, all my prayers that this would work out had been for nothing.”
Vicky set a plan in motion to make the most of what time
Leo had left – to make
“our final days the best ever”.
She helped fulfil his dream of a
BGT audition
– playing
Bruno Mars’
Uptown
Funk on the bongos and meeting
TV’S Simon Cowell and David Walliams. After Vicky bumped into comedian John Bishop, a distant relative, at a family funeral he took Leo to watch Liverpool play at Anfield – before later introducing him to the Soccer Aid celebs team. He met singers Ollie Murs and Cheryl Cole, plus Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, of One Direction fame.
But Vicky still needed help to care for Leo. She was moving into an adapted bungalow in Preston,
Lancs – and that’s when she sent her Facebook plea. Engineer Scott, 44, mucked in with the move and before long offered to help Vicky care for Leo.
Kindness
She said: “I didn’t really know Scott that well, but any act of kindness at that time was grabbed with both hands.
“I was at rock bottom, and for Scott to appear from nowhere and give his time for free, it made my heart melt.”
In March 2016, six months after being told they had just a year left, Leo’s consultant called Vicky to say they could try a new procedure called a double kidney auto-transplant, effectively swapping the kidneys around and connecting them to different arteries. There were risks but Vicky knew it at least gave him a chance of survival. The nine-hour operation seemed to be successful, but days later Leo developed complications and was rushed back into theatre.
Over the next five days he had five life-saving operations as one of his kidneys failed to function properly.
He suffered bouts of pneumonia and a collapsed lung, but was finally allowed home eight weeks later. Scott was by
Vicky and Leo’s side every step of the way – and they soon became a family. Vicky said: “Scott became the dad Leo never had and gave us a reason to never give up.”
In September 2018 the trio were offered a holiday at the Give Kids The World Village, a non-profit resort offering Florida breaks to families facing critical illness.
It was in the Castle of Miracles that Leo turned Cupid. Vicky said: “Leo can’t write, so I helped put his initials on the star to sit with hundreds of others, then asked what his wish was. He asked me to come closer and whispered, ‘I want you to marry Scott’. I welled up, gave him a massive hug and
nodded. I called Scott over, got down on one knee and asked if he’d be my husband. Scott said yes, Leo clapping and cheering like crazy as we all came in for a group hug.
“Scott had been our knight in shining armour, the most thoughtful, kind, funny man in the world. To have him as part of our family was a dream come true.”
Scott’s eight-year-old son Alex, from a previous relationship, was a ring-bearer on the day and wore his dad’s hat from his days with the Royal Engineers. Leo, meanwhile, had begun raising funds for Derian House hospice, which has supported the family since 2015. He started an “Aisle to Isle” walk, trekking a mile a day and urging others to join in remotely.
More than 250 did and he has raised almost £6,500 for Derian House, which has lost around £250,000 in funds due to Covid.
Vicky said: “Leo has defied all the doctor’s odds. Everyone who’s ever met Leo instantly realises how contagious his energy and love for life is. Our story shows that good things do come to those who wait.”
You can support Leo’s fundraiser at justgiving.com/fundraising/leo-cliffe. Find out more about Derian House at derianhouse.co.uk