Mum’s tribute to her little ray of sunshine
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AMUM from Runcorn has paid tribute to her ‘little ray of sunshine’ ahead of what would have been her son’s 13th birthday.
Brave little Jack Broderick was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when he was six years old.
Mum Vicki said she noticed her son’s face had swollen up and took him to the doctors who prescribed antibiotics for an infection.
However, when the swelling didn’t reduce the 39-year-old took her son to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital where doctors immediately diagnosed Rhabdomyosarcoma.
The cancerous tumour had already spread to his lungs and he began an intensive course of chemotherapy.
During his treatment mum Vicki said Jack would ‘never whinge’ and even looked forward to going to hospital.
She said: “He used to look forward to going in to Alder Hey to ‘have a sleepover’ he would say, even though it was for chemotherapy.
“That is how comfortable the nurses used to make him.
“He was a little ray of sunshine and like no other person. “He was just amazing.” Vicki, from Runcorn, said her son would always bounce back from treatment and even beat cancer and was in remission for six months.
However, the cancer returned and sadly, on March 24, 2016, Jack passed away.
Before he died Vicki said she made ‘lovely memories’ with her son, including going to Lapland.
Remembering her son, she said: “He was so handsome, such a good looking little boy and just an absolute joy to be around.
“I remember he had three days of intensive chemotherapy and when we got home he just went out and played on his bike straight away.
“He was always doing things, he was very adventurous and we have lovely memories of him.”
Vicki said towards the end Jack did speak of dying which she said was ‘totally heartwrenching’.
She added: “Towards the end he asked ‘if he was going to die’ and I had to say yes, which was just horrendous.
“He would say he was too young to die and he hadn’t finished school yet and had ‘ a million and one things he wanted to do.’
“I just said ‘don’t worry, heaven’s got everything you dream of’.
“He had an amazing life and even when he was going through treatment he would walk around the ward and say what the other children were going through was worse.
“I was proud to be his mum.”
Vicki said the team at Alder Hey went above and beyond to care for her son and ‘never gave up hope’.
She said: “They are real life angels.
“For Jack to say that he wanted to go back there just proves what an amazing place it is.
“They tried everything for Jack, every trial they could and even at the end they never gave up hope – none of us did.”
Christmas was always a special time for Jack – who was born on December 28, and Vicki said the family would always make a big deal of it.
His uncle Marc and his wife Laura Khanna each year used to decorate their house with lights, which Vicki said Jack ‘loved’.
This year, as a way of remembering Jack and giving back to Alder Hey, they arranged a fundraiser Christmas house light switch-on.
And so far they have raised £240 of their £500 target.
Vicki said: “Jack loved his uncle Marc and loved the Christmas lights.
“Marc was trying to find a way of giving back to Alder Hey and came up with the idea of having a Christmas light switch-on.
“So now everyone can come and see it and it is a way of remembering Jack.”
To donate to Alder Hey in Jack’s memory visit www.justgiving. com and search for ‘2018 Liverpool Christmas Lights – 22 Springwood Avenue L19 4TX’.