Parents Make The Most Of Son's Remission From Illness
Illawarra Mercury
Monday December 18, 2006
THIS year, the Christmas tree went up earlier than usual in Liam Gallo's home.
His Blackbutt family plans to make the most of every minute of this year's holiday, after the last was upset by a shock medical emergency.His mother Maria said she knew something was wrong as soon as Liam, who was 12 at the time, started complaining of fatigue."He had always been the sort of kid who had energy to burn, very athletic and into every sport you could think of," Mrs Gallo said.On Boxing Day, Liam took his new bike for a ride and couldn't manage the ride home.After blood tests at Wollongong Hospital, Liam was sent to Sydney Children's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with leukaemia and had chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.Mrs Gallo said it had been a tough time for the family, including Liam's brother Aidan, 7, but it made this Christmas all the more special."He's in remission, which is good, and if the disease doesn't come back in two years he's got a really high chance of being cured," she said."He is a remarkable kid ... he sees it as a real second chance, and is going to enjoy everything that life has got to offer and isn't going to dwell on the negative."Earlier this month, Mr and Mrs Gallo delivered on a promise they made to Liam when he was ill."We promised him we would donate blood when we got back, because I lost count of how many blood products he received for his treatment," Mrs Gallo said."It's awful that we had to go through something like that to be prompted to do something that only takes an hour of your time."
© 2006 Illawarra Mercury