STRONGER TOGETHER
Toni Ilsley, 50, Reading
Peering into my son’s bedroom, the sounds of his PlayStation blared out.
‘How are you feeling today?’ I asked.
‘Not too bad,’ Charlie sniffled.
It was February 2015, and Charlie, then seven, had been under the weather for a few weeks.
About a month before, he and his dad – my husband Mark, now 52 – had been riding their bikes along a local trail, and Mark had struggled to keep up with him.
‘Slow down!’ he’d called.
But Charlie was a ball of energy – there was no stopping him.
He had raced ahead, then, all of a sudden, splash!
Our boy had lost his balance and fallen into a lake!
Mark raced over to find him stood in the water with his bike, looking rather sorry for himself.
