Friday, February 1, 2008

Goodbye Matthew Anderson...

On January 20, 2008, my good friend Miles had tragedy strike his family. His son, Matthew Anderson, passed away after a brief battle with NonKetotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH). Here is a brief excerp from an email he sent me:

"We gathered Saturday morning to give Matthew Anderson Romney a name and a blessing at Children’s Hospital with two dozen family members and friends. At approximately 12:25 pm, the doctors withdrew his breathing tube. He rested peacefully in Amy’s and my arms throughout the afternoon and evening and passed away silently shortly before 4 am Sunday morning. We are saddened by the loss but grateful that Matthew has now returned to live with Heavenly Father.


The doctor’s official diagnosis is an extremely rare metabolic (genetic) disease called NonKetotic Hyperglycinemia (or NKH, for short). His body produces too much glycine (an amino acid we all carry). This overabundance of glycine is flooding his brain fluid and, at these high levels, is toxic to him. It has destroyed his brain activity. There is no cure or treatment. He would be a vegetable his entire life if he even survived. Thankfully, Ava and Dylan are not at risk for NKH since they have shown no symptoms of the disease. As NKH is genetic, however, there appears a good chance that Amy and I are both recessive carriers and all future children we bear will have a 25% chance of developing this same problem. We will continue to learn as much as we can about the disease and try to plan accordingly."

Miles is a great guy and his wife Amy is such a beautiful woman. Please say a prayer for Miles, Amy, and the rest of their family. The pain that they must be feeling at this time must be indescribable and thankfully, knowing how Miles invests in other people, there are probably many that are stepping up and surrounding him and Amy with love.

Miles, I am so sorry for your loss. I will continue to hold you, Amy, Ava and Dylan up in my prayers.
-------------------

Then, this week I found this post through one of the blogs that I occasionally read. The gist of it is:

"The Joseph Salmon Trust supports parents who have lost a child by providing financial assistance to those who need it most. This may be to help with funeral costs or to allow the self employed a break from work while they come to terms with their loss. Grieving families have enough to deal with without worries about where they will find the money to say goodbye to their child or pay the next electricity bill. Nothing we can do can make their situation better, but we can do something to stop it getting worse."

The timing is impeccable.

10 comments:

Schell Family said...

Thanks for the lovely post Mike. We have been so saddened for Miles and Amy - I can't imagine the pain and loss.

♥♥♥ A- Licious ♥♥♥ said...

wow...beautiful post in such a sad situation. please tell your friends they are in my prayers...and in my heart.

what great funding too btw!

Peace and Unlimited Blessings....xoxoxxo

WILLIAM said...

Very touching post and I will say some prayers for the family.

Whit said...

I can't even imagine. My thoughts to your friends during their time of sorrow.

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

I am sorry for their loss - I can't imagine what they are going through but will keep them all in my prayers.

Thank you for honoring your friend and his family this way.

Hallie

Amber said...

I can't even begin to understand why these things happen. I am so sorry for your friends. I know it also must be hard for you to not be near them during this time. I will lift you ALL up in my prayers. I will pray for rest to come to the family as soon as possible, that you will have the right words to say, and that soon they will have peace in their hearts.

The Charming Hedonist said...

This makes my heart hurt for them.

Virginia said...

Oh my gosh, it breaks my heart when young people pass away, especially children. It's nice to know that they have such good friends like you thinking of them and supporting them through this difficult time.

Ok, Where Was I? said...

I only recently found your site--but still, I wanted to acknowledge this post. I can't imagine the loss. I'm sorry for your friends.

The Ex said...

Oh horrible. Love to their family.