Years ago when I was a schoolteacher I told a story in assembly which I never really thought would be relevant to me or any member of my family. The story originated in SE Asia, I won’t bore you with the details but the message was , that there is always someone out there who is worse off than you.Having watched Russ progress from a near fatal situation to where he is now the story keeps running through my mind.Today, Russell’s birthday, is a time of joy and to look forward to all that we know he will achieve in the future. The last thing he said to his Mum when we left him on Thursday was ” I’m going to beat this , Mum.” We never had any doubt that he would ‘beat it’. His remarkable strength, his indomitable spirit and willpower will bring him through this with all guns blazing. He also has the most wonderful friends  and family who are willing him every hour of the day to get better– how can he possibly not succeed?
Oh yes, back to the punch line of the story:
‘ I cried because I had no shoes and then I met a man who had no feet.’
All the time I keep thinking how much worse it could have been but we all know from his recent additions to the blog that our wonderful boy is still very much with us and will be thrilling us for a long time to come.
Love to you all, Bob–Russell’s very proud dad