Boy Who Refused to Die , livre ebook

Austin Macauley Publishers - M Maxwell A

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

77 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

On 17 December 2007, 13-year-old Alby Dobinson left his home to make his daily journey to school. Later that day, during his return journey, something happened that would change his life forever.This story charts the remarkable journey undertaken by Alby and those closest to him. Life is always a mixture of good times and bad, laughter and sadness, and Alby's story reflects this rainbow of human emotion, from suffering to euphoria.As a biography, written in the style of a novel, this book details years of rehabilitation as family members recount their own experiences with humour, regret and acceptance, plumbing the depths of despair and soaring to the heights of joy.The Daily Mail headline "The boy who wouldn't die" was detested by Alby's family. However, a small change to it illustrated Alby's determination. He did not travel his road alone but was accompanied by his mother and stepfather, Lisa and Mark; his younger brother, Jimmy; and his grandparents. What happened to Alby had a profound effect on them all and each has their own special story, including the amusing tale of how Lisa and Mark met and the response to Mark's declaration that he would run the London Marathon: "You've never done more than run for a bus!"This is a story that will amaze and inspire. It is tinged with sadness but the overwhelming message is one of courage and the triumph of one very determined young man and his family.

Sujets

Lettres et linguistique

Informations

Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	10 décembre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528990899
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

T he B oy W ho R efused t o D ie
A M Maxwell
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-12-10
The Boy Who Refused to Die The Boy Who Refused to Die Chapter 1 And So It Begins Sunday, 16 December 2007 Monday, 17 December 2007 Mark Lisa Mark Lisa and Mark Jim Saturday, 27 September 1958 Jimmy Scott Chapter 2 Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital 17 December 2007 18 December 2007 19 December 2007 20 December 2007 21 December 2007 24 December 2007 September 1994 Lisa July 1993 Alby Jimmy 25 December 2007 26 December 2007 31 December 2007 January 2008 4 January 2008 Jimmy 9 January 2008 15 January 2008 Chapter 3 King George’s Hospital, Ilford 15 January 2008 Mark Lisa Mark Jim Lisa and Mark 16 March 2008 23 March 2008 6 May 2008 Chapter 4 The Children’s Trust, Tadworth 13 May 2008 Chapter 5 Life at Tadworth April 2008 Mark September 2004 Lisa Mark Lisa Lisa and Mark June 2008 July 2008 Lisa Home Mark Lisa Mark Alby September 2008 I’m a Celebrity Chapter 6 The Daily Mail December 2008 Chapter 7 Marathon Man Chapter 8 The London Marathon Friday, 24 April 2009 Saturday, 25 April 2009 Sunday, 26 April 2009 Chapter 9 Home January 2009 April 2009 Chapter 10 Return to School Spring 2009 April 2009 Shenfield High School: Jane September 2009 Tony October 2009 Glynn Alby Tony Exams Sports Day – 2010 Chapter 11 The Second Skin August 2009 Chapter 12 Olympic Fever, 2012 Glynn Mark Lisa 28 August 2012 Glynn Chapter 13 Eighteen 22 September 2012 Chapter 14 Friends? Chapter 15 Return to School – Again September 2014 Chapter 16 Living with Me Epilogue
After a brief spell working in the city (London), A M Maxwell qualified as a secondary school teacher and is currently working at a school in Suffolk. Her passion for writing meant that she often wrote her own teaching material, especially to enable lower ability students to access the school curriculum. She has written several articles, short stories and a children’s book, Sick. The Boy Who Refused to Die is her first full-length book. She has four grown-up children, two grown-up step-children and lives with her husband, Glynn, a primary school teacher, in a small Suffolk village. In rare moments of spare time, she enjoys reading, films, theatre, cooking, cycling and spending time with friends and family.
For Stuart and Mark
Copyright © A M Maxwell (2020)
The right of A M Maxwell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
All of the events in this memoir are true to the best of author’s memory. The views expressed in this memoir are solely those of the author.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528990875 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528990882 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528990899 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
My thanks go to the Walsh and Dobinson families for their time and patience whilst I researched Alby’s story and especially for the laughs over dinner whilst trying to put this book together. Also, to my husband, Glynn, for introducing me to Alby, helping with the photographs and supplying endless cups of tea to keep me going. I would also like to thank the team at Austin Macauley for the excellent decision that this book was worthy of publication.
Chapter 1

And So It Begins

Sunday, 16 December 2007
“I knew you would want to know, that’s all,” said Torie as she turned to leave the house.
“That’s fine. I’m glad you told me. He’s actually with Charlie out playing this afternoon and he knows how I feel about it! I’ll speak to him and Charlie as soon as they get back. Don’t worry about telling me. Really, I’m glad you did.” Lisa smiled but inside she was not happy. In fact, she was more than not happy – she was furious and Alby would know all about it when he got home. Lisa went straight to the playing field and brought Jimmy, Alby and Charlie home. The boys tumbled into the house, laughing and gasping for a drink. “I need a word with you two,” said Lisa, fixing them both with her ‘pay attention or else’ stare. “Tom’s mum’s been round this afternoon and she told me she saw both of you crossing the road at the traffic lights! Alby, how many times do I have to tell you that you use the underpass? You DON’T cross that road! It’s dangerous. The traffic is fast and, apart from anything else, because there’s an underpass, drivers don’t expect to see pedestrians there. Alby, Charlie, are you listening to me? Do you understand just how serious this is? I want you to tell me that you DO understand how serious it is and you WILL be using that underpass, every single time you cross that road, starting tomorrow!”
“OK, Mum,” said Alby, grinning at Charlie. “Mum, do I have to go in tomorrow? It is my last day and we won’t be doing any work anyway. We always have games and mess about. It’s not worth it really.”
“No,” said Lisa, “A school day is a school day and, of course, you’ve got to go. You’ll be home before anyone else on Tuesday anyway. You won’t be at the orthodontist that long.”
The last day of school was the following Tuesday but Alby had an appointment with the orthodontist in the morning and, as the school was finishing at mid-day, he wouldn’t be returning to school after his appointment. That meant that his last day of term was the following day, Monday, 17 December 2007.

Monday, 17 December 2007

Mark
5.30am: Mark dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, grateful that he only had a few days left to work before the Christmas break. Morning rituals completed, he grabbed himself some toast before creeping out of the house and heading off to work – work he enjoyed but he didn’t really like the early start. At least I don’t have to compete for the shower , he thought.

Lisa
7.00am: “Jimmy Dobinson, get out of bed now! You’ll be late! Alby’s already dressed and having his breakfast. His bus won’t wait!” Five minutes later, a bleary-eyed Jimmy appeared at the kitchen door.
“Sorry, Mum,” he said. “It’s all right for Alby. He doesn’t need as much sleep as me. We have to work harder at my school.”
“As if,” said Alby. “Just wait ’til you get to my school. You’ll find out what hard work really is.”
Their morning ritual of bustle, banter and being chivvied by Lisa came so naturally to all three that they just took it for granted. It was what happened. It was family. It was life.
“Eat your breakfast, you two, and stop arguing,” said Lisa, “or you’ll be late.” Both boys ate their cereal and toast in virtual silence. Hungry boys have more important things to do than talk. While they breakfasted, Lisa prepared their packed lunches of sandwiches, crisps, a chocolate bar and a drink. She did it every morning and had become so used to it that she thought she could have done it with her eyes closed. Alby also took some money, which he later handed to his friend Tommy. Tommy went to another school but he and Alby met up on the bus coming home and ate the food Tommy had bought for them at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
7.50am: Alby walked out of the house. He turned right and went up to the main road to catch the 608 bus to school. He went with Charlie, Connor, Jordan and Tommy, just as he did every school day.
8.30am: Jimmy walked out of the house. He turned left to go to his local primary school. Lisa had just started letting him walk there on his own, just as she hoped he would every school day.
Lisa closed the front door and went back into the kitchen to clear away the breakfast dishes, just as Mark would do for the next eighteen months.
3.45pm: Lisa was just finishing the ironing when the sound of the front door bell echoed around the house. Barefoot, Lisa opened it and smiled at Alby’s friend Charlie. Charlie was breathless. “Alby’s had an accident!” Charlie’s face was full of messages he couldn’t utter. Lisa’s mind emptied of every thought as the wave of cold outside air hit her.
“Stay here – Jimmy’s due home any minute!” Her body went into overdrive as sprinted out of the house. Her bare feet tore up the pavement as they bore her far too slowly to the top of the road. Cars had stopped. People had stopped. Time had stopped.
The air was forced from her body as she gasped at the figure lying in the middle of the central reservation of the dual carriageway. Somewhere, someone screamed. She ran over and collapsed beside him. She grabbed his hand. “Come on, Alby, wake up!” she shrieked, being absolutely certain, somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, that if she shouted loud enough, it would wake him up. He’s just been knocked out – he’ll come round in a minute , she thought. She had no more rational thoughts.
“The ambulance is on its way,” someone said. She sat by the central reservation and an icy cold wave washed through her body. She needed to call her dad. Someone handed her a mobile phone but her trembling hands wouldn’t hit the right numbers. She couldn’t do it. Her fingers wouldn’t work. Her mind wouldn’t work. What was his number? Her voice wouldn’t work properly but she recalled her dad’s number from her frozen memory and someone phoned him for her.
Lisa looked at the twisted little figure. He was breathing. His leg was bent under him but there was no blood – Lisa was grateful for that because it meant he wasn’t badly hurt. He was alive and that was a good sign, surely, although his breathing wasn’t right. She looked at her son. He was still wearing his school rucksack – the rucksack he would fling down when