Gil’s Racing Helmet
“When he was born, Gillen spent a month in Great Ormond Street with a heart condition called TGA (transposition of the great arteries). Essentially your two main arteries are the wrong way round, meaning that the oxygenated blood is not circulated to your body. Only a couple of additional holes in his heart kept him alive.
When he was nine days old I carried him down to theatre for open heart surgery. Handing him over to the surgeons was the most awful thing I’ve ever done.
We were told Gil may not survive, and we didn’t know if he would have any limitations in the future, so each day is a blessing.
Despite that scary start to life, he has gone on to be the most amazing person. Aside from his collection of scars and a tendency to go a bit blue in the cold, you’d never know what he went through. We’ve always treated him as we would any child, but it’s always in the back of our minds that nothing can be taken for granted.
Gil has always been massively into cars and always wanted to race. He’s now nine, and regularly wins local races. When he entered a National Championship recently we warned him it would be a lot harder, and he was not to worry if he finished last.
He came third.
It’s incredible, if terrifying, to watch Gil race – and he certainly doesn’t get his driving ability from me! We’re so proud of him.
I can’t begin to tell you how much we love him. One of my favourite quotes is from John Candy in “Planes,Trains and Automobiles”:
“Love is not a big enough word.”
Gil helped design his own racing helmet with a heart as part of his logo, so I thought it would be great to get it in the House Of Stories.”
Martin Townshend
Would you like to read another story?
Come back to the basement…