A palliative paediatrician in South Africa has shared the wisdom and wishes of children with terminal cancer in a series of tweets that have gone viral for all the right reasons.
Cape Town’s Alastair McAlpine told the BBC that he chose to share the incredibly heartwarming messages in light of the negativity he often saw on social media.
“For an assignment, I asked some of my terminal paediatric palliative care patients what they had enjoyed in life, and what gave it meaning. Kids can be so wise, y’know. Here are some of the responses,” he posted on Twitter.
“MANY wished they had spent less time worrying about what others thought of them, and valued people who just treated them ‘normally’. ‘My real friends didn’t care when my hair fell out.’ ‘Jane came to visit after the surgery and didn’t even notice the scar!’”
Read the incredible thread below.
McAlpine told the Internaitonal Business Times that he was overwhelmed by the amazing responses to his tweets; his initial post has more than 20,000 retweets.
“I did not expect the reaction. I was just tired of all the negativity and wanted to tweet something that I thought would allow people to be moved and inspired,” he said. “Had no idea it would have such a reaction. It feels overwhelming!”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
