Harry Johnson: How family turned around tragic death of son to help others
A mother who has raised more than £200,000 in memory of her son who died of Hodgkin Lymphoma has spoken out about dealing with his tragic death.
Sally Johnson, a recent speaker at the Rotary Club of Oswestry, touched her audience as she described how she and her husband Stephen had attempted to deal with the death of their seven-year-old son Harry in 2014.
In an attempt to turn the tragic event around to try and help others the couple set up a charity, the Harry Johnson Trust, in their little boy's memory to offer help and support to the children and teenagers and their families, who receive care from the Oncology Teams of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals.
Since it was formed more than three years ago, the trust has raised more than £200,000 to achieve that goal.
Mrs Johnson said: "We support children whenever and however possible, and so we grant ‘wishes’ as requested by hospital staff for individual children whenever we can."
Money raised is spent on projects such as Harry's Hampers, which provide the few bits and pieces that a family might need during the first few days in hospital.
Other projects include Harry's Hugs, which enables a patchwork quilt or memory bear to be made from the favourite clothes of a child if they sadly pass away from cancer, and Family Fun, which provides vouchers so that children can spend time in local restaurants and places to visit with those they love which can be difficult with the financial pressures caused by a parent stopping work to care for the poorly child.
The charity provides treats for youngsters such as trips to the cinema or short-break holidays, and even makes available a family with a gift card for the hospital cafe so they can buy snacks and refreshments.
Oswestry Rotary Club's community chairman Mike Griffiths said: "I could see that all our members were listening closely and asking themselves what they would do in Sally's shoes.
"Fortunately, most of us will not have to go through that ordeal but I knew that we all wanted to help so we are grateful to The New Saints FC to allow our club to carry out a bucket collection at the Irn-Bru Cup semi-final versus Dumbarton on the Saturday to support Harry's Charity.
"It is an evening kick off at 7.35pm so we are hoping that the crowds will be generous, as always, in supporting this wonderful cause."
