Memories of Max - A Father's Story

Chapter 7 - Max

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In the years that followed, video games gave him a refuge where he could escape from the world. This was especially true during his second cancer when he needed time to come to terms with what was happening to him.

Prior to Sonic, his obsession had been with the ‘Power Rangers’ television programme. Like my parents before me, I felt this type of programme to be rubbish. I remember my parents disapproving of Batman, Superman and also the cartoons of the time. One difference with Power Rangers was the fact that they had a motto which went something like ‘Believe in yourself’. We used to repeat this to Max to boost his confidence. It seemed futile but in the years to follow it was a very good motto and one which he started to use.

Max had an obsession with China. It started when he was five, long before his second cancer. This was not something which we as parents instigated. I asked him why he loved everything Chinese and he just said that it was because the Chinese were so ‘different’. I thought that this was related to the physical differences of skin colour and looks but he said that this was not the case. He loved the writing, the costume, Chinese mythology and anything related to Chinese culture. To him this was a magical culture which was so different from our own and it captivated him completely.

Just after his second diagnosis and during the Chinese New Year, we took him to a restaurant where there was an outdoor performance of the ‘Lion Dance’. It was January and bitterly cold. He was not well and the dance troupe were late. I wanted to go home because I was worried he might catch a cold, but he would not leave. When the troupe arrived and started dancing he became entranced and enthralled. He posed for a picture in front of the ‘Lion’ and his face lit up with the wonder and joy. We were so glad we had stayed.

I had a close relationship with Max long before he became ill. As he grew older we became a double act. He loved to make fun of me, and I loved his barbed jokes.

About a year after Max finished his leukaemia treatment we all went to Disneyland in Florida on a much needed holiday provided by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

During the trek round Disney Max and I went on the Water Mountain ride. This is a slow but enjoyable ride around a theme route in a small canoe-like contraption followed by a forty foot drop down a forty five degree descent into a pool of water. It did not seem like forty five degrees, it felt vertical. I loved it and so did Max. After the ride finished told me how he'd been so scared and how his heart had gone ‘boom de boom de boom’ and how excited he’d felt. We both decided take another trip. As we approached the top of the long fall he panicked and told me that he could not face it again. He started to climb out of his seat and I became vary worried about what I would do with a hysterical child at the top of a forty foot drop. I held onto him and tried to calm him down. He screamed as we fell headlong into the pool below. When the ‘canoe’ became stable I turned to see if he was alright. He leered at me with a huge grin on his face, “Fooled you then, Dad.” I was incensed and delighted in the same instant. I had been so worried about him and yet it had all been a joke.

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