The Star: December 02, 2021
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>December</strong> 2 2<strong>02</strong>1<br />
4<br />
NEWS<br />
• By Kristie Boland<br />
HAVING FISH and chips in<br />
the park is nothing out of the<br />
ordinary for many families.<br />
But for Ruth Markham-<br />
Short and Jeremy Smith, their<br />
outing with family and friends<br />
at Redcliffs Park had special<br />
significance.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y gathered to celebrate<br />
and remember their 23-monthold<br />
son, Reuben Smith,<br />
who tragically died from<br />
meningococcal septicemia nearly<br />
a year ago.<br />
“It’s about a bit of time with<br />
Reubs, the anniversary is coming<br />
up. <strong>The</strong> lead up to it is hard.<br />
Being here with family and<br />
having something to celebrate is<br />
nice,” said Ruth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> celebration at Monday’s<br />
gathering was for the installation<br />
of new swings at the park in<br />
memory of Reuben, who would<br />
go there with his parents.<br />
Reuben was a healthy boy<br />
who had not been sick before,<br />
so when he woke at 4am on<br />
<strong>December</strong> 17 with a high<br />
temperature, it was unusual.<br />
He showed signs of having a<br />
stomach bug. <strong>The</strong>n at 10am that<br />
day, Ruth and Jeremy took him<br />
to the local medical centre.<br />
By noon, it became clear there<br />
was something seriously wrong.<br />
Reuben had developed a rash<br />
and was rushed to hospital to<br />
be treated for meningococcal<br />
septicemia, an infection of the<br />
bloodstream that causes organs<br />
to shut down.<br />
By 2.30pm Reuben was in ICU.<br />
Said Jeremy: “When we went<br />
into ICU to see him he was just<br />
a different boy. <strong>The</strong> rash had<br />
spread all over him, he was<br />
purple. It’s so brutal, it’s the<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Fish & chips, swing set and remembering<br />
COLOUR: Ruth Markham-Short and Jeremy Smith with eight-week-old son Rupert at<br />
Redcliffs Park. <strong>The</strong> couple have donated a swing set in memory of their son Reuben (inset).<br />
worst disease.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> doctors and nurses did<br />
everything they could for<br />
Reuben but his body had started<br />
to shut down and there was<br />
nothing more they could do.<br />
“We were told about an hour<br />
before he passed that there was<br />
a high chance that he wouldn’t<br />
make it,” said Jeremy.<br />
At 5.10pm that day, Reuben<br />
died.<br />
Said Ruth: “It was just so fast,<br />
so fast . . . It’s a bit like having<br />
your kid tied to the railway<br />
tracks and seeing the train<br />
coming and not being able to do<br />
anything about it.”<br />
Said Jeremy: “It went from<br />
waking up at four in the<br />
morning, thinking he’s got a<br />
tummy bug, to him passing away<br />
at 10 past five that night.”<br />
Up to 15 per cent of people<br />
carry the bacteria that causes<br />
meningococcal disease. <strong>The</strong><br />
chances of Reuben dying from it<br />
were .00<strong>02</strong> per cent, his parents<br />
were told.<br />
When Reuben died,<br />
the Redcliffs and Sumner<br />
community rallied together<br />
to raise money to support<br />
his parents. Now that money<br />
has been donated back to the<br />
community in the form of new<br />
swings, Reuben’s favourite thing<br />
to play on. <strong>The</strong> purple swing<br />
set, Reuben’s favourite colour,<br />
was installed at the weekend.<br />
<strong>The</strong> community raised $4800<br />
for Ruth and Jeremy, which was<br />
used to pay for the swings.<br />
“We wanted to do something<br />
meaningful with [the money].<br />
We wanted to give back,” said<br />
Ruth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> swings are a way to say<br />
thank you to the Redcliffs<br />
and Sumner community for<br />
supporting Ruth and Jeremy<br />
through the most difficult year<br />
of their lives. <strong>The</strong> swing set gives<br />
Ruth and Jeremy a place to go to<br />
remember their son. A plaque<br />
will go up for Reuben on the<br />
boulder in front of the swings<br />
“It’s a gift from us but in some<br />
ways it’s been healing for us,”<br />
said Ruth.<br />
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