Cameron
Cameron was born in 1995, a healthy baby boy, 5 months later he was fighting for his life. He had Pneumococcal Meningitis, a deadly disease that can kill swiftly. Cameron survived but he was left with debilitating after effects. He lost all abilities, even his ability to suck. We quickly discovered that he had extensive brain damage, complete loss of hearing in one ear and significant muscle loss down one side of his body. Cameron had also developed Epilepsy.
Cameron has fought to live many times since with countless epileptic seizures that threatened his life, lasted for hours, hospitalized him and damaged his brain even further. There is however one thing that Cameron never lost - his smile. Cameron spent his childhood doing therapy in a constant strive to awaken his brain and improve his quality of life and thus his future. He did learn to walk and very slowly he has gained some skills of a young child. We stopped his epilepsy and he is now able to live medication free but he is not able to live the life of a young man his age. He is non verbal, needs 24/7 supervision and assistance with all aspects of his life. We have been pondering Cameron's adult life for a long time and how to make it meaningful, with purpose. We know that Cameron loves to help people, he can walk and carry things and he loves to be driven around in cars. He loves cars. Cameron Collects was born - an opportunity for Cameron to have his own business and earn an income whilst helping his community and helping the planet too. Cameron now has a purpose and is a contributing member of society just like everybody else - he just needs a little help along the way. Cameron is a living example of why we should all embrace every day and remember how short and precious our lives and those of our loved ones are. He reminds us to see everyone's abilities, not just their disabilities - everybody has abilities. And Cameron always reminds us that a SMILE can change a persons day and it costs the giver nothing - so spread those smiles around to everyone. |
If you would like to learn more about Cameron: Blog: thisisnoordinarykid.blogspot.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/This.is.No.Ordinary.Kid Instagram: www.instagram.com/this_is_no_ordinary_kid/ Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/71336920/ |