Man diagnosed with brain tumour happily holds daughter for first time

 

Happiness: Tim Peters cradles his newborn daughter for the first time

A man diagnosed with a brain tumour weeks before his first baby was due has held his daughter for the first time.
Just before Christmas last year, 25-year-old Tim Peters had everything he had ever wanted.
With a loving wife, a home and a new baby on the way - life was especially good for Tim, from Newton, Chester, as the end of 2014 drew nearer.
So it seemed like a cruel twist of fate when following months of deteriorating mobility and feeling in his right side, Tim was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
It was only weeks before he and wife Amy were due to welcome daughter Imogen Faith into the world, reports the Chester Chronicle.

Hospice Of The Good Shepherd

Wedding bells: Tim Peters with wife Amy on the day they got married

In the weeks that followed, which should have been the happiest of his life, Tim was instead undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment which left him bed bound in hospital for eight weeks.
The treatment left him so weak he was not even able to stand upright and hold his baby daughter - but it was this goal that became Tim’s driving focus as the weeks passed and he started intensive physio and occupational therapy to help him regain movement.
In March this year, Tim was referred to the Hospice of the Good Shepherd for therapy, where he began using the newly-installed ceiling track hoist using a special walking jacket.
The new facilities enable patients to regain and maintain mobility following the impact of their disease, which helps to improve their wellbeing.
Totally focused on his goal of being able to hold Imogen whilst standing up, and with the help and support of staff from the hospice as well as from Clatterbridge Hospital, it took Tim just three months to achieve it.
Amy recalls: “It was an incredibly emotional moment, one we will never forget.

Hospice Of The Good Shepherd

Heartwarming: Tim Peters will never forget this moment

"It was only the second visit to the hospice but the ceiling track hoist and walking jacket enabled the therapist to get Tim to stand upright for the first time after his cancer treatment and his face lit up when we put Imogen in his arms.
“Everybody there was incredibly moved and I can’t thank the team at the Hospice enough for their support and commitment,” she said.
Tim is now capable of walking a lap of the hospice with the support of his physio and a frame and Amy says there is ‘no stopping him.’
“The therapist continues to push him to do that little bit extra all the time however,” she explains.
“Tim makes sure he does the bottle feed with Imogen every night, where she switches on the smiles, especially for her daddy.”
“We are so grateful for all the support our family, friends and staff at the hospice have given to us.
"Tim has another scan in six weeks’ time and we’re taking every day as it comes, but one thing is for sure, we know we are blessed with our little Imogen Faith.”
Vanessa Brown, Clinical Services Manager at the hospice, adds: “Our therapists, Claire and Adrian are able to improve patients balance and mobility enabling them to walk when they would otherwise be bed bound.
“It was wonderful to be able to experience Tim holding his daughter while stood up for the first time and immensely rewarding to see the benefits of our facilities first hand.
"It was a truly memorable moment.”