Faced with the earth-shattering discovery that their child has only months to live, any parent would agonise over how to break the news to them.
Adam Lewis’s mother and father decided not to tell him at all.
After learning that the 12-year-old had an inoperable brain tumour, his family were determined to make sure he enjoyed his final days to the full.
For 12 months, they put on a brave front while Adam went to school, saw his friends and lived a relatively normal life - not knowing that he was dying.
His family arranged exciting trips and gave him treats to make the time he had left as enjoyable as possible.
The happy-go-lucky schoolboy knew he had a tumour and underwent regular radiotherapy and chemotherapy to control it, but he always had hope that he would make a recovery.
After he passed away in May, his heartbroken family were consoled by the knowledge that Adam was never depressed about the knowledge of his imminent death. And according to his sister Chloe Netherton, 21, he “smiled all the way through” his treatment.
“He was the funniest, silliest, bravest boy I have ever known,” she said.
Adam lived with father Kevin Lewis and his partner in Barton Upon Humber, near Hull, and spent weekends with his mother Kim Horner in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Miss Netherton, who also lives in Gateshead, said Adam first showed signs of his illness early last year when he was staying with her. She said: “I rang 999 and he was taken to hospital and checked out.
“He went downhill from there. He was feeling really unwell. The doctors carried out tests and realised one of his eyes wasn’t responsive.
“They then discovered the brain tumour and it was pressing so hard on his eye that it wasn’t responding.
“He underwent more tests and an eight-hour biopsy. Six weeks after he was diagnosed, the biopsy revealed it was terminal.
“I couldn’t believe it. My baby brother, the boy who slept in my bed because he loved his cuddles, the boy who was so smiley and cheeky, was getting his life taken away from him.”
As the family struggled to absorb the heartbreaking news, Mr Lewis suggested it was best that Adam was not told he had no hope of recovery.
He was given steroids that made him put on weight and continued gruelling hospital treatment to keep the tumour at bay for as long as possible. Meanwhile, with the help of his family and the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield, Adam was taken abseiling, flew in a helicopter and met a speedway team.
He carried on attending school whenever he could, but eventually lost his fight for life on May 3 at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Miss Netherton said: ‘We all got the chance to say our goodbyes and then he passed away.
“I was so proud to say he was my baby brother. He brought so much joy to our family. I love and miss him so much and always will.” - Daily Mail