Del's Life Slide Show

Donation to Charity - No flowers

Del asked before she passed away for people not to buy her flowers for the funeral. Instead she asked to take the money that you would have spent and make a donation to International Children's Care where her Aunty Lorraine Birkett works. ICC specialises in working with orphans in a developmental way.

You can make a donation buy calling 03 5152 5774 or by donating on line www.iccaustralia.org.au

Be sure to mention that you are giving to Del's kids project.

Thanks for your understanding! See you on Thursday at 1:00pm at Delhuntie Park!

WANTED - Pics of Delwyn

We are putting together a slideshow of Del's life and if you have some special pictures that would be suitable, please email them to wscale@gmail.com by 8:00am Monday 6th of July.

Thanks in participation!

Delwyn's Funeral

The funeral for Delwyn will be on Thursday 23rd of July, 1:00pm at Delhuntie Park, 21 Cemetery Rd, Trafalgar East. It is hoped it will be more of a celebration of the wonderful life she lived, than mourning her death.

It was Del's wish, that rather than buy flowers to bring to the funeral that people provide a donation to Del's favourite charity. (I'll let you know what that is soon).

We've been touched by the wonderful words of encouragement from so many people all over the world! It is very much appreciated. Her life touched more people than we knew!

Delwyn Passed Away

Delwyn passed away at 4:15pm Eastern Time at home in Trafalgar, Victoria, with a slight smile on her face. She was 29 years old.

Yesterday, (24th of June), Del was too tired to fight the battle against cancer any longer. She had had enough. She let her parents know and then called each of her brothers, in order of age, and said good bye to them! She is now resting in peace, less than 24 hours later!

She has been such a blessing to so many people, and inspired each of us with her courage and strength and love for God. Her faith never wavered.

The next thing she'll know will be Jesus's second coming. I, for one, want to be there! It's my prayer that each of us will be!

I will let you know when the funeral date is decided!

PLEASE spare the family in Trafalgar and don't call them unless it's really necessary. We thank you for your understanding.

Life's struggle

Del is finding the struggle for life quite hard at the moment. It seems like she is pretty worn out and my even wonder if it's all worthwhile. I suspect that may be she's said that it's all too hard.

She is very tired and often not responding to verbal commands and is often struggling to breathe.

I suspect that the end is very near. The family has requested no phone calls and I'll keep this blog updated.

Del is not seeing so well

Del's eyesight is not so good! Her left eye is closed and it's a real struggle to keep her right eye open now too. When it is open, her eye sight is poor. This places quite a challenge for her to read SMS text messages. Probably the best way of communicating with her is to send emails to her parents address info@delhuntie.org.au and they will be able to read them to her. Her hearing is very acute! Seems like there is some compensation happening! She loves phone calls (short ones), but her speech is getting a little slower and her voice is quieter. Her pain management is good keeping her quite comfortable. Her courage is still very strong and her faith and trust in God could never be higher!

Del in Broome, WA

Delwyn come to visit us in Broome for the last week of April, with the help of two carers, Jemima Scale (her niece) and Jordan Chatelier, (a family friend)  This coincided with her Dad's visit to Broome with the Pinnacle of Terror.  

Del being helped with a swim by her Uncle Scas and her Dad.  This is at Cape Leveque, about 2 and a half hours north of Broome.  Del coped well with the rough journey lying on a mattress most of the way.

Del couldn't resist a joy flight around Broome.  She's pictured with Jem and Jordie.

Del with her hand at the controls of the Cessna 172 RG

Jem and Jordie found a lovely green frog for Del!

I know that Del visiting us in Broome was a long time wish for her.  And it wasn't easy.  It took a long of persuading before QANTAS finally agreed to let her fly.  She had been warned by doctors that she may have a seizure and was advised to carry her own oxygen.  The flight up was without any dramas. 

Dell shared her testimony at the Broome SDA church which was very inspiring to the local members as well as other people that she met at the campground.

On the return journey back to Melbourne, Del was happy to have the oxygen and used it for a while.

Del is very appreciative of the many people that helped make this trip possible, especially those who helped with air fares and she says a big "Thank You" for making it possible.

Del's condition is not getting any better, as you may have noticed in the above photos, her left eye is now closed due to a tumour putting pressure on the optic nerve.  She still has pretty good sight in her right eye.  She gets headaches from time to time.  Her cancer count is still going up.  Despite that, Del made many friends and inspired lots of people with her contagious smile and cheery disposition!

She's using patches for analgesia now and these seem to be working reasonably well. 

Thanks for coming to visit us Del, where's your next adventure?

PS At the moment, she's staying with her Aunty, Lorraine Birkett, while Elwyn and Helen are attending a "grey nomad" camp at Yarrihippini, Central NSW.