The Littlest Angel

It’s amazing how a retrospective look at life brings so much more purpose to the deeds we do.  If we could only see life at the present for what it is to us in the future, we could fully appreciate all the blessings bestowed upon us. Simon Bradley was one of these blessings, and it is because of him, the life we knew while he was here and the impact we feel in retrospect due to his spirit and fight, that we strive to help children with special needs.

  He was born August 25, 2004, and it was apparent from the beginning that something just wasn’t right and the longer he was in this world, the more things went wrong. It wasn’t that we didn’t recognize Simon’s limitations caused by two congenital illnesses - Hirschsprung’s Disease and Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) - or the fact that they were life threatening.It was our refusal to believe that what we could provide for him, emotionally, physically and monetarily, wouldn’t be enough to sustain the quality of life he deserved.

  The first 10 months of his life were a whirlwind of prognoses, none of which were hopeful, but nonetheless this little baby fought the odds to immeasurable lengths. He taught us more in one year about strength and courage, love and hope, than most of us knew having lived hundreds of years if you added our lifetimes together.

There was a light at the end of our tunnel when in June of last year Simon was able to come "home" for the first time. Although we were in Miami and not Port Orange, having him away from the hospital and in a more comforting environment we all felt a little bit more secure that things were looking better for him. But it wasn’t long before infection made his stay at "home" short, and from that point until his untimely passing, he was back and forth between "home" and the hospital.

After a year of ups and downs, Simon answered his calling and was rewarded rest and peace on Friday, August 26, 2005, just hours after his first birthday. This heartbreaking story has ignited a firestorm of determination in our family to help those children in need of the same kinds of treatments and surgeries that were in Simon’s future. We truly believe that love and support of family is what sustains life - and we are all a family in Jesus, specifically our mission is to help children with needs like Simon.

We were ready for what our life would be with a child with special needs, and our desire is to share our love, support and monetary contributions to those in similar situations.

Our mission’s success is solely based on generous contributions from friends and families answering this call for help.

Simon inspired our family to continue in his name the life we shared with him on Earth. As he watches us from Heaven, we want to make him proud that we recognize the importance and value in his life and continue his influence of patience, peace, and charity.

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