The colours of courage
THIS is me.
You may have noticed that I have dyed my hair a rainbow. Let me tell you the story why.
Last week, my pop passed away. He was one of the strongest people I have ever known.
A few years ago, he had been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.
Bone cancer is one of the most painful and debilitating forms of cancer you can get.
But my pop was a stubborn and determined man and he was not going to have a bar of it.
He made the choice to fight the intruder, in every way he possibly could.
Physically. Medically. Mentally. My pop was strong. And he had so much support in his battle.
He had a whole troop of soldiers at his command. But the cancer came prepared as well.
A war ensued, and there were battles won, and battles lost.
Slowly, the war going on inside my pop’s body began to show.
His body was slowly beginning to side with the cancer.
But he didn’t care for a second. He just kept on fighting.
Much to everyone’s surprise, he kept making new milestones.
Another Christmas had come and pop was still here to join us.
His 50th wedding anniversary passed and he celebrated it. My pop’s body had terminal cancer. But pop didn’t.
Eventually, his body began to fight with the cancer. His range of movement was severely limited.
His tolerance to the pain was weakening. But still my pop fought.
He was not going to just surrender to the oppressor as his body had done.
Every day he still tried to help around the house, to do things his body just couldn’t cope with.
Because he would not negotiate with this cancer. He was the boss. And that was that.
A little under a month ago, his body surrendered completely.
It was at this time that he was admitted into the Toowoomba Hospice.
We all thought that it was the end but it was there at the hospice that he was given the strength to continue the fight.
And continue to fight he did. Physically, he had nothing left to fight with. Medically, there was nothing left to do. But mentally he was still strong and his mental strength continued the battle.
There were more battles won, battles we all thought he would lose.
Because that was just my pop. He was just too strong and too stubborn to do what everyone else expected he would do.
But last week, my pop lost the war. But it was on his terms. He lost in a way that was completely my pop.
With no fuss, no drama, in the quiet hours of the morning, just him and his wife.
He finally lost the war but it was magnificently fought.
My pop fought for so long, so hard, and so fiercely, just so that he could spend a little more time with his family.
And as much as we hated to see him in the pain he was, we are all so grateful for the extra time we got to spend with him.
So I dyed my hair a rainbow for my pop. I dyed my hair a rainbow to say thank you to the hospice.
The hospice allowed my pop to fight his war the way he wanted, with all the dignity he deserved.
It is “Trash ya hair” month to raise awareness for the Toowoomba Hospice.
I have trashed my hair so that I can help this amazing place stay open, to allow them to help other people and other families, just as they helped mine.
I know I speak on behalf of everyone in my family when I say we can never repay the hospice for what they gave my pop in his final time.
You gave him so much that we couldn’t. So thank you. We will forever be grateful. If you would like to help me and my family thank the hospice for the amazing job that they have done, please jump on the Toowoomba Hospice’s website, and jump on board with one of their activities.
Even if it is just a donation. The hospice would not be the place it is, without the generosity of our community.
You can also donate money to me, I will be carrying around a tin for the whole month.
Thank you for reading my story, and thank you for any help you can show for the hospice - the place that let my pop fight.