Jake died suddenly but peacefully in his sleep from an undiagnosed cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma just 3 weeks after his 2nd birthday.
Jake lived in Manchester with his parents, Carly & David, and his baby brother, Charlie, who was just 14 weeks old at the time. Jake was a wonderful little boy, a pleasure to be around and always happy and smiling.
Jake had been displaying various symptoms for about 3 months prior to his death and had been given thorough checks by GPs both at the local doctors surgery and at Booth Hall Children’s Hospital. The main symptoms we noticed were stumbling and falling over quite frequently and a head tilt. He also seemed to have some difficulty swallowing occasionally. Jake was not in any pain or if he was he never complained.
A verdict of natural causes was recorded at Jake’s inquest. They said that the tennis ball sized tumour had bled which had caused massive pressure and irreparable damage and Jake had simply stopped breathing. They said there was nothing anyone could have done.
Jake is terribly missed by his family and everyone who knew him. He loved Thomas The Tank Engine and In The Night Garden. He was a wonderful son and big brother. His loss is indescribable.
Jake became a big brother for the second time when Carly, David & Charlie welcomed another beautiful baby boy, Alfie, in January 2010.
Fundraising
David, Jake’s daddy, orgainsed a charity Fun Run/Walk in August 2009 in Jake’s memory. Approximately £5,000.00 each was raised for Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust and The New Children’s Hospital Appeal.
On 17th October 2010 David and a small team of people did a skydive at 15,000 feet over Hibaldstow Airfield in Jake’s memory. Sponsor money is still coming in but they hope to have raised around £2,000. CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR DAVID AND THE TEAM
We are extremely grateful to Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust for their help and support. The work that they do is invaluable and hopefully through our fundraising we can help them to find out more about the causes and early diagnosis of brain tumours.
For more information about Jake, please visit www.jakekershaw.co.uk
Thank you
Carly, David, Charlie and Alfie
Jake and his brother, Charlie