Callum’s Walk

IN MEMORY OF CALLUM MURPHY

A Little Bit About Callum - Firstly those people who meet Callum will remember him forever, he had a infectious smile, a cheeky giggle & never allowed anything get in his way of being happy in life! At the age of 2, Callum showed signs of a simple ear infection - simple right treat with antibiotics. But the antibiotics didn’t seem to help, in fact Callum deteriorated very quickly - he began to loss his speech instead of learning new words as he should at that age, he suddenly couldn’t walk without support and it seemed his body was failing him! But why, there was no medical reasoning for this! They eventually diagnosed Callum with ADEM - Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and it is characterized by a brief but widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin – the protective covering of nerve fibres. At last an answer, but we were told the damaged caused by this illness would be permanent and life limiting, so we attempted to make Callum’a life as joyful as possible and in between the hospital appointments and treatments Callum was very happy. Callum had specialists all over the world attempting to “diagnose” him fully. For a long time we were told it was ADEM & MS, but suddenly at the age of around 12 Callum started showing signs of deterioration again - the left hand side of his body began to seize, seizures and he complained for pain daily. So more tests were ran and lots of appointments attended - aged 14 they told us Callum had an illness called CLIPPERS  -Chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids which is a treatable inflammatory disease of the central nervous system - APPARENTLY! However Callum had been on steroids since the age of 2 and because of this had developed Osteoporosis, so continuing him on steroids was out of the question so we basically we had to watch Callum deteriorate without treatment. Callum spent his 16 birthday in hospital due to becoming too unwell, weeks later Callum’s body was attacking itself yet again and after several chest drains it was determined to remove his lung to help encourage his healthy lung have a fighting chance. This didn’t happen, Callum needed a tracheostomy to allow his body and brain to get enough oxygen supply, he now lost his voice and also was nil by mouth, BUT was alive and still smiling! After having our family home turned into a hospital wing Callum was allowed home!!! But it was short lived a week into being home and Callum went into respiratory arrest and had to return back into hospital - from here is was decided Callum would need to go into a hospice for end of life. The only thing keeping Callum alive was machines and oxygen. On 7th June 2017 Callum went into Shooting Stars Hospice, whilst here he had loved ones visit and was made comfortable. On Sunday 10th June 2017 Callum took his last breathe. His long fight was over, he was finally out of pain and had grown his well deserved angel wings. Callum is so very loved and remembered daily. 


Eliane (Callum’s Auntie) is completing a 26.2 mile (FULL MARATHON) in memory is Callum Murphy. She knows what a difference they made to not only Callum’s life but also to our lives by providing support during such a horrific time. Elaine will be starting and finishing The Ship Inn, Pentewan. She will start this fantastic journey on 25th July 2020 at noon. She has been training endlessly and putting all her focus in preparing her body and mind for this grilling accomplishment!  The route she will be taking will be mixed terrain and as well all know the great British weather is always unpredictable! Elaine has chosen to do this in Callum’s memory in aid of Shooting Stars Children Hospice where Callum spent his last few days. We all want to thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to all of us and it’s fantastic that they continue to support children with life limiting illnesses and their families day in day out to ensure they have the best quality of life!! Charities like this need our support more than ever at the moment. These children many like Callum do not have immune systems and this means they are incredibly vulnerable and therefore it may not be safe for them to be at home, so they go to the hospice to remain safe. 

More information about Shooting Star Children's Hospices: Shooting Star Chase is a leading children's hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Find out more at shootingstarchase.org.uk