This prejudice makes me sick

I imagine that like everyone else I was shocked and saddened to read about the tragic death of David Cameron's son Ivan. I've got three beautiful children and I can think of nothing worse than what the Camerons are experiencing right now. Having said that, upon reading the media coverage, I found myself shocked and angered by the way in which some of the media have covered it. I am a volunteer helper with a charity involved with the disabled. I've been involved with this since 2001. I started helping as I've been blessed with many gifts in life and so helping people who haven't been quite as lucky seemed a good thing to do. Before I became involved, I had a vague idea about the issues facing people with disabilty. In the 1960/70's when I was at school, terms such as "Spastic" and "Mongy" were thrown across the playground as terms of insult. I knew a boy who had suffered from the Thalidomide drug and he was sometimes referred to as "Thlid". At the time we thought nothing of these derogatory terms, fortunately the climat has changed to make such terms completely unacceptable. People deride political correctness, but in cases such as these I for one think we've matured as a nation.

I have a cousin who is my age who suffers from Downs Syndrome, so I wasn't totally unaware of the issues, but I wasn't involved in her care or the problems she faced. I was too busy playing football with her brother when we were growing up. When I started helping, the first shock I had was that it wasn't a chore, it was a joy most of the time. There are two different strands of disability, physical and mental. Often people assume the two things go hand in hand, but Stephen Hawking shows that nothing could be further from the truth. I've sat, drank beer, played cards and even been to see Status Quo with our group. I love them all. Even the most seemingly mentally impared people can sometimes shock you with their humour and wit. One of our group, who has severe issues and has a vocabulary of maybe 20 words, once had the group in absolute fits of laughter during a church service. A priest had been giving a sermon that had probably started to go on just a little too long. Whilst the rest of us suffered in silence, at a natural pause for breath, with perfect timing, our friend showed he'd learnt a new word and shouted at the top of his voice "Amen". The priest took the hint & wrapped up. Everyone else sniggered.

What may you ask has this got to do with the coverage of the passing of Ivan Cameron? Well should any of our group pass away we get a phonecall to let us know. Should I drop dead tomorrow, the group will get a call and they'll say "Tragic News, Roger has passed away". The same message would go out whoever it was. When I saw the story of Ivan Cameron in the Daily Express, I saw this is headline :-



Ivan was David Cameron's son. He wasn't defined by his disability, he was a valued and cherished member of the Cameron family. It seems to me that the implication of the headline is that it's something less of a tragedy because he was disabled. The story is that he's passed away and he's David Cameron's son. He died because he suddenly became ill. As best I can tell from the coverage it was unexpected. That can happen to us all. I have no objection to a story mentioning his problems in the context of the article, but to define this beautiful child by his disability is disgusting, in the way this headline has.

This is the reason that when I push someone in a wheelchair, who has a higher IQ than me (not that hard), into a shop, the assistant invariably talks to me. It's like when we go for a beer, they say "What does he want" even though the only thing wrong with my friend is he can't walk.

I've become a better, stronger, funnier, happier, more mature person through my charity work. I've also had some great times. I suspect that if you asked David Cameron, he'd say he's become a better person through knowing his beautiful son for 6 years. If David Cameron ever becomes Prime Minister, the whole Country will benefit from his experience of the life and death of Ivan. This was Ivan's gift to the world. Let's treat it as such and not pigeonhole him and demean him by just dismissing him as merely "disabled".

My thoughts and prayers are with the Camerons at this time. I hope they find peace in this difficult time