Matthew's Page

Welcome to Matthew's Web Page. It has been provided to keep people updated about his wellbeing and progress. Matthew was born on 28 May 2001 with a rare muscle disorder called x-linked myotubular myopathy

Journal

Thursday, September 2, 2004 2:43 AM CDT

Matthew Marshall Wright, our angel has passed on. He has left an aching hole in our hearts and we shall miss him dearly.

This is our eulogy to him.

Expectant parents waiting for a newborn's arrival say they don't care what sex the baby is. They just want it to have 10 fingers and 10 toes.

Parents lie.

Every parent wants so much more. They want a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin.

They want a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.

They want a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule.

Every parent wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions. They want a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class.

Call it greed if you want, but a parent wants what a parent wants.

Some parents like Alistair and I get babies with something more.

Matthew was told he would not last the night.
Matthew was told he would not last 5 months (average life span of MTMX). He turned 3 on 28th May 2004!
Matthew was told he would never go home
Matthew was told he would never speak

Thank goodness Matthew didn’t listen!

Matthew was severely affected.
He couldn’t sit up or support his head.
He couldn’t breathe on his own.

But ..
Matthew could love life and love it abundantly
Matthew could watch Teletubbies and Barney (his favourites)
Matthew could listen to his CD’s and shake his head or wiggle his foot in time.
Matthew could lie back and enjoy being read to
Matthew could swim in his very own swimming pool (albeit a Barbie one!)
Matthew could go for walks in his buggy
Matthew could sing his favourite songs and say his favourite nursery rhymes
Matthew could recite the alphabet and count to in the 60’s
Matthew could say the days of the week, months of the year.
Matthew could say "I see you baby - shaking that ass!" and Ag shut up!


Matthew could ……

Matthew had so many lessons to teach us
To be the best you can be
That every day is Saturday
To love unconditionally
To persevere, to fight

He made me a better me.

He had the courage of a lion,
He had the greatest heart
The smoothest skin
The most loving touch

Matthew touched so many people’s lives,
This was his greatest gift of all.

Looking around at all the people here who loved him, and who he loved, we know we were blessed by having him in our lives.

Alistair and I want to thank everyone for all their prayers and their support over the years that Matthew was with us.

My folks who gave up their lives in Durban, to perform cabaret and teach him to be the best he could be.
To Cheryl who gave and gave and gave –
To Al’s parents who provided unending support and enabled us to bring Matthew home.
And Al’s sisters for their love and for lifting us up especially over these last few difficult days.

Kevin and Connie – I don’t have words. You loved and loved and loved Matthew, for that we are grateful.

To all the nurses and those who worked with Matthew – we know you loved him like a son.
Welma – Matthew’s surrogate mom, who sang him to sleep (close your eyes and doo doo), who took him for his baths, who taught him so much.
Adri who taught us our little zongie wasn’t a porcelain poppie
Sam, Matthew’s best friend - Hola 7!
Linda, Matthew’s go'go - who got excited at his every achievement.
Marianne thank you for caring so well for him.
Lizzie - Hosile Ousie, ou boetie is gone.

To all Matthew's doctors and our Medical insurance and suppliers, who persevered and believed in Matthew - we never gave up hope.

To all of you who in your own way made Matthew’s life easier and supported us – thank you.

Our gorgeous boy is gone, but he will live in our hearts forever.

Goodbye TLG

Look at past journal entries

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: Peadiatrics

Protector - Medi Vaal
Vanderbijlpark
Gauteng South Africa

Email address  : janice.wright@sasol.com

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