"""My Son Was Dying In My Arms"" Michael Crossland recounts how the toughest of times, changed how he now sees life.
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00:00On the 8th of December my wife had a lot of back pain and we were taken to
00:06hospital and they found out that she was two centimeters dilated. It meant that we
00:11were getting airlifted straight to Sydney Hospital. She was pumped full of
00:14steroids and as you all know life doesn't always go according to plan.
00:20I love the story about the man who works from his home office and a little boy
00:24comes in one day, he's eight years of age, he says hey daddy any chance we could
00:27play catch? Daddy says sorry son I'm busy. Next day little boy comes in hey
00:32daddy any chance we can play catch? Sorry son I'm busy. Third day in a row
00:36little boy comes in knocks on daddy's door. Daddy says son told you yesterday
00:39told you the day before I'm busy I can't play catch. He says oh dad I wasn't gonna
00:42ask you to play catch today. He goes oh what were you gonna ask me? He says I was gonna
00:45ask you how much money you earn an hour. Daddy says son that's a very rude
00:51question but I earn $50 an hour so I can put a roof over your head and food in
00:54your tummy so please get him out of my office I got work to do. Little boy
00:58doesn't knock on that door for a week, a month, two months goes by before that
01:02little boy knocks on daddy's door. He says hey daddy yes son. Daddy over the last
01:05two months I've been mowing lawns, I've been pruning trees, I've been doing every
01:09single chore that my mum has asked of me and I've been able to raise $25. Daddy I
01:13was wondering if I give you this $25 could I please just have half an hour of
01:17your time and daddy could we please go and play catch. So often we look at
01:25success by the materialistic possessions that we perceive are important. I would
01:31give away every little bit of success I've ever had to have a healthy little
01:36boy come and knock on my door and say hey daddy any chance we'd go and play
01:39catch.
01:42My journey began when I was 11 months of age. I went to the doctors with my mum
01:46and the following morning I was diagnosed with an incurable cancer of
01:49the central nervous system. The doctor said I had a 96% death rate, go home, take
01:55your boy home and allow him to live an extra month with his family because
01:57there's nothing that we can do. My mum asked one question I don't want to know
02:02what the chances are my son dying I just want to know what the chances are my son
02:04surviving. So lucky every day that my mum chose to look at my life not being 96%
02:10empty but she chose to look at my life being 4% full. I started chemotherapy on
02:16my first birthday my chemo cycle was nine days on three days off nine days
02:20on three days off not for weeks not for months but for years. My mum had to go to
02:23death counseling once a week for two hours to deal with what was going to
02:26happen to a little boy. I say to people all around the world that I'm one of the
02:30lucky ones but I never say I'm one of the lucky ones because I'm still alive.
02:33I say I'm one of the lucky ones because I wasn't my mum. My mum was the one that
02:39had it tough.
02:43After way too many years in hospital the doctor came in and said to my mum
02:47Kerry we have no idea how we have no idea why but you can take your little
02:51boy home. Everything was going to be okay. My mum carried the fear and the burden
02:56of a son dying because she wanted me to lead a normal life.
03:01That's optimism. That's what true courage is. My wife and I were due to have a
03:08beautiful baby midway through February 2018. On the 8th of December my wife had
03:15a lot of back pain and we were taken to hospital and they found out that she was
03:21two centimetres dilated. Four days later on the 12th of December at 6 40 p.m. we
03:29had a beautiful little boy who was very unwell he was taken away from us and
03:33stuck in intensive care unit level three. They thought he had an illness called
03:37sepsis. They told us that we had maybe four days with our little boy and that
03:42afternoon he was put straight back on the plane and he was airlifted back to
03:46Sydney. He stopped breathing twice on the plane. It was the first time that I walked
03:51a day in my mum's shoes. I would give away every little bit of success I've
03:55ever had. To have a healthy little boy come and knock on my door and say hey
04:02daddy any chance we'd go and play catch?
04:07But then about a week after we got back to Sydney I captured his first
04:12little smile. Every time I've been knocked down I've always remembered what
04:17my mum told me that was son it doesn't matter how many times you get knocked
04:20down in life it's about how many times you get back up that truly determines
04:23the quality of your life. And I remember that day I thought you know what
04:28everything's gonna be okay. What makes today even more special is I have my
04:36beautiful little boy here with me today so please welcome to the stage Mr.
04:41Lachlan James.
04:50We love him more than we could ever imagine. He's opened up a new valve in my
04:54heart for me to truly understand now what love is. I'm so grateful every day
05:01to have this little boy in our life. I promise you when you begin to prioritise
05:05what's important, you finally start to live your life. Spend your life working
05:12so hard to enjoy that life that you have been blessed with.
05:18So things are doing really good. But you know I've realised in my life that the
05:31quality of one's life is not dictated nor is it determined by the amount of
05:35days that we live on this earth. It's about what we fit into those days that
05:39allows us to live remarkable life.