As a parent there are some things we just don’t want to have to discuss with our children, without a
doubt the hardest thing is having a discussion with your child about their death.
The idea that your child might be so sick that they can’t survive is something no parent wants to even
think about for a second.
Still, life can be cruel sometimes, and when Bill Kohler’s son fell ill, conversations about death became
inevitable.
Bill Kohler, a former Armed Forces doctor, spent his life helping others but felt utterly helpless when his
9-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer.
Kohler, who now lives in York, Pennsylvania, discovered his son Ayden had not one but two brain tumors
in 2016.
The father began sharing the events of his son’s life on the Facebook page he created, 4AydenStrong
Foundation.
Ayden had a tumor in his brainstem and another on his cerebellum. Doctors told Bill that his son only
had between eight and 12 months to live, according to information reported by ShareTap.
After months spent exhausting all his energy to find treatments, Bill decides to take a step back and
devote all his time to his son. He takes him to football, makes him take long walks in the forest, goes
with him to the cinema, plays with him, etc.
The weaker Ayden gets, the harder it becomes for him to do what he loves, but his parents aren’t giving
up. With the help of a social worker, Ayden writes down a list of all the wishes he has and his parents
then decide to make them all come true, or at least try.
Ayden writes a heartbreaking wish in her list: “If I have to die, I want it to be in the woods. »
The little boy may be a fighter and fight with all his might, but his condition is deteriorating very quickly.
Very quickly, it is impossible for him to walk, eat and even breathe on his own. He suffers martyrdom.
One day, he asks his father the worst question a parent can ever hear from their child.
“What if I don’t heal and die? »
Upset, lost and completely helpless, Bill replies: “No matter what happens my son, I will stay by your
side. »
His father’s words comfort Ayden as he lives out the last days of his life. On March 22, 2017, after a
fierce battle with the disease diagnosed 8 months earlier, Ayden died in her parents’ arms.
The grief of Ayden’s loved ones is immense and unbearable. Their only comfort is knowing that their
little one has experienced moments of pure happiness and spent his last moments surrounded, loved
and pampered.
DIPG most often affects children between the ages of 4 and 11, and most of those who suffer from it do
not live more than a year. It is important to promote research against rare diseases and to give science
the means to achieve it in order to prevent tragedies like Ayden’s death from affecting other families