Peter Morton

After a long battle with illness, my son Peter decided he had enough and was ready to rest. He was
the most special son that I could of asked for and I will miss him so much. Fifteen years is just
not long enough but every minute with him will never be forgotten. His baby blue eyes and his
gorgeous smile would just melt your heart. In such a short time he touched so many lives and has
left everyone with fantastic memories. Forever in our hearts and in our memories, always at peace.


Our brave boy
Peter came into the world a little late but left far too early. He was born a healthy baby, our
first child. He had milk intolerance in his first year and the usual coughs and colds but nothing
that would give us any concern.
He was a kind and loving boy that you couldn’t help but love. When he started nursery and school
he was keen to be one of the lads. He loved football and began playing for a team (Bexhill Boys)
when he was just five years old, and went to his first Sunderland match the same year (19th
September 1998 Sunderland 7 – Oxford 0). Peter loved school as he saw it as a great place to
socialise, his effort in his school work was just enough to get by although the teachers always said
he could do better, which he was starting to do in his last years (really well in maths). Peter got
on with most people and any fall out with friends would not last long. He loved girls and had a
steady stream of females at the front door, his laid back nature and sense of humour appealed to
everyone.
Peters first stay in hospital was due to an accident (slipping on the stairs and breaking his leg)
he had to wear a full leg cast but it didn’t let this get him down. In the winter of 2002 he
began to lose his hair, the doctor said that it was alopecia and sure enough in the spring his hair
grew back however in April 2003 we noticed he was bruising very easily. After examination and blood
test by the doctor he was referred to haematology at Sunderland General we were told he had ITP
(idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura), a blood disorder that effected his platelets that control
blood clotting. A year later his spleen was removed and this seemed to solve the problem however
approximately a year later he noticed a small lump under his arm. It was discovered after a biopsy
that his lymph gland was swollen, then started various infections and low white cell counts, then
the platelet problem returned.
Sunderland General referred Peter to the immunology department at Newcastle General Hospital, and in
November 2006 we were told that his immune system was immature and Peter would need to be observed
at regular clinics. May 2007 Peter attended a scheduled appointment at the immunology clinic, he
was admitted a day later as we were told he had a severe chest infection (pneumonia - we found out
later), in the meantime a scan had been checked (done weeks earlier to investigate a lump in his
eye) it showed that Peter had brain tumour. The specialists thought the worst as he had lumps in
other places, but after several biopsies (neck, brain and lung) it showed that all the lumps were
non-cancerous. The immunology specialist believed that the best option was to give Peter a bone
marrow transplant to give him a new immune system.
Peter left hospital a month later and went back to school happy to get on with everything he did
before. He was disappointed that he could not play football due to the tumour and platelet issue,
he was not allowed to swim either as he now had a hickman line (an access point direct to his main
artery, so the various medications could be given easier). But this did not stop him from getting
on, he never played on his illness and really stuck in at school, performing even better. Spending
time with friends was important to him and some of the stories we have heard since just proved that,
he even came home with a black eye after being knocked in the face during a game of football!!!!!
May 2008 arrived the time for him to be admitted to the bone marrow unit, he was looking forward to
the time he was ‘just normal’. The new bone marrow took really well and Peter was so calm and
laid back, the staff thought he was brilliant. Then a complication set in GVHD (Graft verses host
disease) which can attack the lungs, skin or gut, in Peters’ case it was his gut. He coped well,
the doctors began treatment but there was no improvement. In the August they sent him to Holland,
where a specialist treatment using stem cells was given. A month later he was sent to Holland again
but now things were not good. Peter was so poorly but he didn’t give up, then Friday 26th
September 2008 the doctors decided that he should go onto a ventilator in the intensive care unit.
Saturday 27th September 2008 the worst news, nothing more could be done and Peters’ organs were
shutting down and that we needed to get ourselves prepared. Sunday we had Peter and his brother
christened with close family with us. With only days left I mentioned that I wish I could have
taken him home, as on Peters down times (there weren’t many) he just wanted to go home. The staff
were brilliant and did everything to grant mine and Peters wish. Peter hung on and Wednesday 1st
October 2008 we took our son home to his own bed (still sedated and on a ventilator). The
ventilator was removed after everyone’s goodbyes and his dad I held him as he slipped into his
eternal rest.
Peter’s bravery is an inspiration to those who knew him especially his dad and I, we miss him so
much, our lives will forever have a huge hole in it.