Johnson hailed a lifesaver by parents
Kiwis league star Shaun Johnson has been credited by the parents of a young cancer patient for playing a massive role in helping save their son’s life.
In March, 12-year-old Jason Braniff was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Jason’s mother Sharon and father Greg told Fox Sports Australia that their son began to lose hope after rounds of chemotherapy in Sydney.
At one point, Jason whispered to his mother: ‘‘Just let me die, I don’t want to do this anymore.’’
But a hospital visit by members of the Cronulla Sharks NRL side – including Johnson – proved a massive lift for Jason. ‘‘He was in a really bad place. ‘‘We’d never seen it before, we were just at a loss,’’ Greg told the station.
‘‘I can still visualise it in my head like it was yesterday.
‘‘He had his arms on the table with his head down and it just wasn’t him.’’
Johnson entertained the youngster by ‘‘running around like an idiot’’ with a sombrero during the visit and then Sharon told the former New Zealand Warrior how Jason was giving up his fight. ‘‘He took his jumper off and signed it and gave it to Jason and said ‘keep the fight going mate, you’ve got this, I’m 100 per cent behind you’.
‘‘It made me cry how he was so there with him.
‘‘From then on Jason was like ‘I’ve got this, I’m going to beat this’,’’ Sharon said.
Added Jason: ‘‘That meant a lot because no-one has done that for me before.
‘‘He helped me put a smile on my face ... it gives me a lot of strength knowing Shaun will be there with me.’’
This week, Johnson – who married former Silver Ferns netballer Kayla Cullen last Saturday – posted on his Instagram page that Jason was able to ring the bell at the hospital to signal the cancer was in remission.
‘‘This guy has turned around and said Jason had an impact but I don’t think he realises how much of an impact he has had on Jay and our family,’’ Greg said.
‘‘I was shocked how this little boy has inspired this grown up and yet this grown up has inspired this little boy so much as well.’’
Jason is back home but refuses to let his Sharks sweatshirt signed by Johnson be washed, less the signature fades.