Dear Santa Claus: Please make my brother ‘get well forever’, love Chris, 3
A LITTLE boy has told Santa all he wants for Christmas is for his little brother, who suffers from a rare hereditary condition, to “get well forever”.
Lyle Cornet suffers from the same brain tumour that killed his grandfather, Scotland and British Lions star Bruce Hay. Lyle’s three-year-old brother Chris made the special wish when Santa made a special visit to the family’s home in Loanhead, Midlothian, after learning Lyle, one, was too ill to visit his grotto.
Lyle has an aggressive tumour that cannot be removed, and his family live each day as if it is his last.
His mother Lyndsey, 24, had arranged for both boys to go see Santa at Dobbies Garden Centre in Loanhead, but told staff they may not make it if Lyle was too poorly. So when bosses at the store heard about the toddler’s illness, they decided Santa, Mrs Claus and his elves should visit him at home.
Lyndsey said: “They had no idea about it. I got them both at the front window to say we were waiting on someone and then all of a sudden Santa appeared with his big red sack and was waving as he walked up the path. The boys were beside themselves. They were giggling and smiling and shouting ‘There’s Santa’.
“Lyle pulled his beard and giggled at him. Then Chris got a hug and was asked what he wanted for Christmas. We were all in tears when he said ‘I just want my brother to get well forever, please’.”
Lyndsey’s father, Bruce Hay, who played for Scotland and the British Lions, died of a brain tumour aged 57 in 2007 after being diagnosed in 2005.
Doctors believe Lyle has inherited a faulty gene that has led to the condition.
He has started to crawl, but sadly may never walk as his leg muscles are so weak.
Doctors were looking to give him radiotherapy to shrink his tumour but have now decided against this. Instead, he is having 18 months of chemotherapy.