Walking on for Prince Harry
Friday, May 29, 2009
By: Cynthia Neudoerffer

We walk in memory of our son, Harry Venema, a brave and most courageous child, who passed over 3/08/08, at 16 mos. old. He fought for 5.5 months against the rarest and most aggressive form of childhood cancer - a primary rhabdoid tumor of the liver.

Harry was diagnosed with a Primary Rhabdoid Tumor of the Liver (Stage 4) with metastasis to the lungs and lymph nodes in late February 2008, at the age of 10.5 months. Rhabdoid cancer is known as one of the rarest, most aggressive, and lethal of all childhood cancers.

Harry had not missed any developmental milestones and showed no signs of illness until only a few weeks before diagnosis, and then appeared to present with a mild flu.

Harry journeyed for nearly 5.5 brave months through 6 rounds of chemotherapy (ICE/VAC). Harry was truly a most joyful, happy, contented child. He rarely cried and always had a quick smile and laugh. Cancer and chemotherapy did not take this away. Instead, Harry taught us the true meaning of living each day in joy, love, happiness and hope. In his short time here he changed many lives for the better. We like to think he came to give and receive an intense love experience, and his life certainly was that, from beginning to end.

On July 18, 2008, expecting very different CT scan results, we were devastated to learn that his cancer was no longer responding to the chemotherapy. Harry passed over at home, 2 weeks later, at about 9:00 pm, Sunday August 3, 2008, prophetically exactly 16 months to the exact hour that my water broke for his birth.

A famous Zen Koan goes like this: Student: "Master what is Absolute Truth?" And the Master only replied "Walk On". Without knowing this Zen Koan, Walk On was our motto through out Harry's journey. Our little pint-sized sage, in his own way, teaching us the meaning of absolute truth. And so in his honour, we walk on every day, and specifically this night, 29 May 2009, we walk in his memory, in love and hope, always holding him close.