Cora Cameron with some of the goodies that were delivered to the hospital on Christmas Day. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
CHELSEA BOYLE
For one Masterton family paying it forward this Christmas was the best way to honour the son they lost three years ago and to help their young daughter know the brother she never met.
Rebecca Shenton lost her son, Isaac Shenton, who was suffering from cancer in April 2014.
Alongside husband, Matt Cameron, she started the Isaac Shenton Foundation in his honour the following year.
“We started that to remember him by and to give back to the hospital staff and children,” she said.
Isaac was diagnosed with cancer around Christmas time in 2013 so now the trust gifts parcels of marbles – something Isaac loved – to the children’s ward around the same time each year.
“We know how difficult it is to be in hospital over Christmas and the staff who work tirelessly are sacrificing time with their families,” she said.
The family queued up at the Wee Red Barn on Christmas Eve to grab fresh strawberries and cherries to drop off at the hospital on Christmas Day.
There was more to the holiday than getting gifts, she said.
“As far as we are concerned it’s about giving. It’s not about what you get around the tree it’s about helping other people and realising sometimes people aren’t as fortunate as you.”
Isaac was a very kind and caring little boy who would give away his toys to children who did not have as much as he did.
Paying it forward was a way to “keep his memory alive” and was a way for his little sister, Cora Cameron, who turns two next month, to get to know him.
The trust regularly gifts presents to the children’s ward donating helium balloons during Easter time and as recently as three months ago donating children’s superhero capes and masks to the emergency department.
“Everything we get goes 100 per cent back into the charity.”
