My life: Rory and his story
by danicacheetham
Rory and Regan 30th October 2010
I still remember the first time I met Rory, my family had just moved into a new house and he came to introduce himself. He lived across the street a few houses down, I wasn’t very good at meeting new people. I was shy but Rory was friendly, confident and not much phased him at the time. It was a while until I started to get to know him though but it didn’t take long for us to become great friends. I had always wanted a “best friend neighbour” it was fun but sadly we moved out a year later. This didn’t change our friendship though nothing really could. I know this story may seem irrelevant but this is the part that changed my life. At the start of this year Rory broke his leg which at the time was not hugely surprising as he was a bit accident prone. He’d fractured his thigh which led to the discovery of a tumour. I remember the first time my boyfriend, sister and I went to visit him in a Brisbane hospital. He looked completely different. I remember sitting there, listening to Regan playing his guitar, crying, I didn’t know what to do. He went through Chemotherapy which took its toll on his body. Rory is a fighter, always has been, but he had to have his leg amputated a few months into chemo. This was huge news obviously it would change his life forever and I can’t say I dealt with it well. This is the first time I’ve expressed how I feel because I tried not to think about it. I was in denial of this being a reality, and it was happening to one of my closest friends. I grew a little distant for a while, it was too hard for me to watch him go through this and I feel bad because I know he needed me. He finished Chemo a few weeks ago, and has been doing really well, he got his licence and I’m super proud of him. But the Doctors have given him 12 months to live with treatment. It’s hard to deal with news like this especially when its been such a hard time for him and his friends and family. I don’t want to regret any of the time I spend with him. I don’t want to be scared or look back and wish I’d done things differently. I want him to know how much I love him . Life is so precious and so are the people in it, don’t waste it, any of it. Don’t be scared to do the things you want to do, they can’t wait. I know its still hard for Rory and the people who care about him but we can only make the most of the life we have, as long as I’m here I intend to do just that. Live my life as I know how to live it.
stella by night 
Facing such circumstances is so challenging, and we sometimes let down those we love. But each day is a new day and opportunity to brighten and lift someone else’s world that might be darker than ours at the time. Take inspiration from Rory’s courage and be determined to be yourself, not striving but just living a life of joy, fun, comfort, determination and perserverance. So let that beautiful light inside you shine my precious daughter. For in doing so I believe you can change the world. Rory certainly did… one smile at a time.