Had cerebral palsy, epilepsy

From the BBC, [UK] Telegraph:

Six-year-old Ivan Cameron, the eldest son of UK Conservative leader David Cameron, has died after a brief stay in the hospital.

In a statement, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he and his wife Sarah were “very saddened” by Ivan’s death. “I know Ivan was a child who brought joy to all those who knew him and his was a life surrounded by love,” he said.

An excerpt:

Describing the moment when he learned of Ivan’s disabilities, Mr Cameron told the Sunday Times in 2005: “The news hits you like a freight train.

“You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality. But then you get over that, because he’s wonderful.”

The BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cameron’s experience of looking after Ivan, who needed round-the-clock supervision, had shaped Mr Cameron’s character and his attitude to the NHS.

Friends have previously attributed Mr Cameron’s “modernizing” leadership of the Conservatives to the National Health Service care Ivan received.

The illness has also helped the Tory leader realize that there is more to life than politics, they have said.

In a 2007 speech, Mr Cameron said: “I help care for a severely disabled child — my son.

“It’s what I do at the start of each day. It’s sharpened my focus on the world of care assessments, eligibility criteria, disability living allowance, respite breaks …

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 7:05 am and is filed under cerebral palsy, epilepsy, international, NOT2BEMISSED, obits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.