gaps:line Volunteers tell their stories
The way in which people respond to the news that a child they know has cancer, will differ greatly. Consequently there is no standard
response. The reality is, each situation is unique, so the response will vary dramatically from person to person.
The response made, will depend on a number of factors. These factors will include, among other things: Their relationship to the child,
their own temperament, the age of the child, their situation, their knowledge of cancer in general and specifically the particular type of cancer
in question, their understanding of treatment options and their appreciation of survival rates.
No matter how much responses will vary, one thing is certain. Whatever the circumstances, whoever the individuals concerned are, the news
that a particular child has cancer, will be followed by a deluge of painful and negative emotion. This deluge will, at least initially, overwhelm,
confuse and distress, even the most emotional strong, resilient and stable of people. They will find themselves unable to think clearly or
rationally and they will find it almost impossible to stay afloat emotionally. At a time like this, no amount of information or reasoning will be
effective in preventing them from going under. Often the only thing they can cling onto, is knowledge that someone else is there, who understands
sufficiently how they feel.
At gaps:line, we believe that our volunteers, who answer the calls we receive, can provide the type of emotional life-line, that's needed.
Each of them is a parent, who has been told that their child had cancer. To illustrate how they may be able to support others, we asked them to
share their responses, not just to the moment they learned their child had cancer but also how they responded to various critical moments in their
struggle to come to terms with the reality they had to face.
Here are some of things they felt able to share but remember every situation is different. If you are in the midst of the emotional turmoil
we are sharing about, only you know how it feels but maybe just learning how others have coped, will inspire you to hold on to the hope that they
can make it through.
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