In memory of Oliver George Howe

💜Oliver George Howe Forever 8💜

These are the words that we wrote to be read at Olivers funeral.  They briefly sum up what an amazing young man Oliver was.  Thankyou for visiting this page and for donating or just remembering Oliver.  Please keep his spirit alive.  Talk about him, share your pictures and memories and if your ever struggling just think...what would Oliver do.....xxx

When your writing something like this for someone who has had a long life you talk about all there achievements, jobs and adventures they have had throughout there life. However, just because Oliver had a life that was way too short, he still had a full life which was also full of achievements, adventures and yes even a job!

Oliver George Howe was born on the 2^nd June 2014 at 4:17am. He was loved from the moment we saw him. Instantly we were complete as a family of three ready to take on the world. He completed us. He brought so much joy and happiness to us every single day. Oliver was a very content child, who loved cuddles and kisses from very early on. He made everyone who met him smile and laugh and would quite comfortably sit with anyone and start talking about something he had seen in a book or showing them his animal collection which continued to grow and grow. He loved his family and was so happy when Bethany came along, another cousin for him to play with and they became the best of friends. He enjoyed get togethers to show and tell especially his animals and gemstones. He enjoyed joining in on conversations and usually ended up saying something to make everybody laugh. Every Wednesday we would go for tea at grandmas. He loved this and he would always make us fetch a load of different things every week to play with. Even the last few weeks of his life, Oliver knew when it was Wednesday and asked to go. A surprise visit to Grandmas birthday meant a lot to him and missing it was never even a thought. As we left every week he would sneak up to the window just to jump up and scare her before he went home. Always getting in the car giggling as we drove away.

He loved Easter in the garden doing egg hunts with the children. His favourite season was autumn and he loved Halloween. He enjoyed getting dressed up and going around to see the family and always ended up with a spider theme. He looked forward to birthday parties and playing together in the garden. He enjoyed the beginning of the Christmas season when his elf, Happy arrived. He visited on his birthday, at his radiotherapy sessions, in hospital and at home. His favourite part was having cuddles with him on Christmas Eve before he would go back to the north pole. Oliver thought the world of Happy, he was part of our family.  Olivers love of Christmas grew after his recent trip to Lapland to visit Father Christmas. It was a magical day creating lots of special memories.

Oliver went to Summer Lane nursery which he loved and made friends straight away. He always enjoyed going in a morning, playing with the animal figures and was fascinated by the aquarium. Nursery is when his love of learning about things began. He really was like a sponge for facts and information. It was never forced on him, he just loved it and would often go to bed with a fact book about some kind of creature or animal. As a toddler he loved spending time outdoors planting flowers and collecting bugs and then fetching them inside to show us his catch of the day. He was definitely a mummy's boy on this topic. Animals became a major part of Olivers life. He always had great pleasure in talking about his favourite animals. For most kids if you asked about there favourite animals they might say a dog or cat or maybe something like a tiger or an elephant but Oliver was definitely a bit more unique. His favourites were the Goliath bird eating tarantula which he would delight in telling you it was the size of a dinner plate and the famous southern crested pigeon which is very hard to make out of clay as Oliver and the hospital nurses would jokingly tell you as they watched Laura try to make one at Olivers request. Not only did he love them but he knew everything about them. A highlight for Oliver was when one of his TV idols Steve Backshall sent him a personalised message while he was in hospital and was talking all about his encounters with the spider. A massive high for Oliver. Just when he needed a boost during treatment.

Summer lane primary school followed nursery and this is when he properly started to shine. He loved school. His love of reading started very early and he loved moving up his different reading levels and proudly came home quite often with a new certificate to say he'd moved up. He would want us to take a picture in the usual place in the living room and send it to everyone to show. He would often work out how many more levels there were before he could complete them all and become a free reader. That was always his goal! He would read at bedtime and school and would always ask if he was close to the next level. Of course Oliver being the amazing boy he was achieved that goal just a fortnight before he died with a special video presentation from his teacher and classmates. He was laid in the hospital bed quite sleepy when he watched that video and at the end of it he turned over to see his mummy and with a glow in his face and a beaming smile said “Ive done it mummy, im a free reader” he achieved his goal and it really was such a happy, proud and emotional time.

He loved school so much and he made some lovely friends, especially in Annie and Jacob, Daniel and Joseph, Ellie and Meredith. Often having play dates and doing fun things together. Oliver managed to go back into school for a couple of mornings a week, he enjoyed the topic work. He loved art and mindfulness during his lessons. Oliver couldn’t keep up in the playground as easily which didn’t really bother him as he became a door monitor and would stand with his favourite dinner lady Mrs Creeton chatting and whistling together “Always look on the bright side of life”. He loved it and felt so happy. He was very much looked after and was often treated to his favourite flapjack by Nicki in the kitchen. Oliver was very much a part of the school while he was in hospital and received video calls from Mr Smith, his teachers and the school.

He also enjoyed seeing his hospital teacher Gail. They hit it off instantly and loved each others company. Oliver enjoyed playing fun games like brain box and loved it when he won. He loved the small prize at the end.

Oliver loved playing animal crossing on the switch. He would collect animals, bugs and fish and delight in showing you his critterpedia sometimes daily and to others weekly. One of his highlights of the week would be sitting down with his Aunty Sue on a Wednesday and showing his progress from the following week. He loved his animal crossing so much that he soon had the bedding, the soft toys, the pyjamas, and for Christmas he even got a personalised sticker set so he could show off his critterpedia without even going on the game. It kept him busy in hospital along with the online game merge dragons where he would love hatching dragons. It kept him happy and occupied and he was so proud to show you them. He even set the Alexa for midnight to welcome his baby dragon into the world much to the delight of us.

Olivers favourite show was Bluey he loved to sit and watch it during his days in hospital and at home. He would always want to show you how amusing things were and his favourite episode sleepy time was his favourite of all. He loved their accent and the cheeky antics of bluey and bingo. Oliver also enjoyed spending time with daddy just being silly. The amount of times there was a den in our living room and even his hospital bed turned into a den all decorated with lights. We enjoyed singing songs together and Lego building and Oliver would love us all to play funny bunny before bed and of course would win most times.

Oliver loved coming to church. He enjoyed seeing people at coffee morning and spending his dad’s money on the stalls. He enjoyed decorating the cross with flowers at Easter. He enjoyed singing the hymns and loved going to the Christmas services. The church family thought a lot about Oliver too.

Oliver just like us was a huge Disney fan and loved watching the films and singing the songs. Some of our happy times as a family were going to Disney world in Florida. Oliver was very lucky to have gone twice. He loved the shows, parades and the fireworks. His favourite ride was the same as his favourite film, finding nemo. Even after just one trip to the park he knew exactly where the ride was and as soon as we got through the entrance he would grab us both by the hands and take us straight to the ride.

We had some amazing trips together. Oliver loved centerparcs. He went a few times with family and loved looking for the red squirrels and watching the birds. He loved the swimming pool too and even though hed only had a few swimming lessons they were enough for him to have no fear on going down the slides or on the river rapids. He enjoyed other trips to Edinburgh, Lanzarote, Norfolk, Blackpool and Windsor. You can imagine his reaction when we told him we were going to legoland in Windsor, but calling at harry potter studios on the way. He was a happy and excited little slytherin!!

Over the past few years, Oliver has been in the newspaper and on TV and loved being a celebrity. We took him to the deep and a lady waved to him and he was so shocked and he said “I cant believe it, they even know me in Hull!” . Oliver had quite a few visits from famous friends like Jon Richardson, Lucy Beaumont, Dan walker aswell as messages and gifts from Jessica Ennis and The England goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck. His favourite famous mate who visited and kept in touch throughout his treatment was Robert Dowd from the sheffield steelers, or Dowdy as hes known. He enjoyed going to the matches and shouting at the top of his voice. After a recent game Dowdy invited us into the players lounge for a catch up and he asked Oliver what was his favourite bit of the game. “The fighting” he told dowdy! He loved the games and his signed shirts and programmes were definitely up there with his most prized possessions.

Oliver said only a few months before he passed that he was glad he had cancer! Shocked and worried we asked him why he thought that? “because Ive got to help raise lots of money for the hospital to help other children and that he wouldn't be famous if not !! He wasn't wrong. Oliver delighted in the amount of money raised in his name. He saw first hand how a lot of the money was spent and used on his ward and this made him happy. As a family we have tried to do lots to raise funds and so have our close friends. Our Morrisons family joined the fundraising journey with us and have been so incredible and so supportive to us as a family. The big highlights were the bears of Sheffield when Morrisons sponsored the bear ‘Loose ends’ and later purchased it. Oliver always called it his bear. He loved going around Sheffield to see all the bears on display. The amazing amount of money raised through the bear and the snowflakes meant that Morrisons were allowed to turn on the snowflakes at Sheffield Childrens hospital. You can imagine his face when he was asked if he would push the button to turn them on. He was so proud and so excited. A day he would continue to talk about and a memory we will never forget.

Another reward for his fundraising was to be asked to be a mascot at the England Under 21 game against Germany. He loved getting his new kit, meeting the players and going on the pitch in front of the fans and singing his heart out to God save the King. However if anyone asked about it afterwards the only thing he'd tell you was that he was absolutely freezing and couldn’t wait to get his coat and blanket on.

Oliver was loved wherever he went because you only had to spend a short while with him to start laughing and falling in love with his infectious smile and wonderful personality. He was loving and kind and always thought about others. Oliver loved going to events for the Sheffield children's charity and calling down to the shop to see Jane and pick up the latest creepy crawlie toy. He also enjoyed calling in for a babycino with marshmallows from costa before he went back up to his ward. Fundraising was always very important to us and this will continue. This will be Olivers legacy.

Olivers happy place was Chester zoo. The charity PACT organised a treat for him and said they would try and get him a special surprise. They certainly did and he got to meet his keeper friend, AJ. As a special treat she took Oliver behind the scenes to look at the bugs, released butterflies and even fed the Komodo dragons. They would chat away together happily about insects and bugs while we would just listen and smile. Oliver was in his element and he had never been happier. Oliver met the amazing 3 legged tortoise Hope. He found it so funny when hope decided to have a wee mid air, all over AJ. He delighted in releasing monarch butterflies and showed everybody back home the correct way to hold them. We managed to go again near Christmas, obviously he had to wear his uniform that he was given. Although AJ wasn't at work she still organised for him to meet her friend Adam who again took him behind the scenes to check out all the lizards, chameleons and Caymans. That evening she came and met us with her daughter Ruby and we went round in the dark looking at all the lanterns that lit up. He absolutely loved Chester Zoo, he loved AJ and was delighted in receiving daily updates from her and the team on the shenanigans of the animals. He was included and it made him so happy right to the end. He was made an honorary keeper and given the title of reptile 10. He loved this and was so happy that he worked for the amazing Chester zoo.

As everyone knows, Oliver was always smiling. No matter what was going off he always had that beautiful smile on his face that was so contagious. Whoever he met, complimented us on how polite and happy he was. This wasn't just for show this is just how he was every minute of every day. He was sure to thank the doctors every day they came to see him and the nurses who give him the medicines he needed. He really was so polite no matter how he was feeling. On one of his admissions Oliver was on oxygen. It was a compact room and our nurse came in to alter his levels. Oliver being in one of his cheeky moods decided to start tickling the nurses feet, much to the amusement of him. Oliver was sat on his tablet on another occasion and we had to leave the room. The play worker went to check on Oliver. He was nowhere to be seen. She came and asked where's Oliver and of course we said “hes in bed”. To be told no he isn't. So we all dashed up the corridor, opened the door to find an empty bed. Panicking we shouted “where is he??” Only to be scared out of our wits by Oliver jumping out of the en suite bathroom shouting Boo and a belly laugh proceeding through the bathroom door. The play worker asked him why did you do that ? And him in his cheeky voice saying because I wanted to scare my parents and he laughed about it all day.

Olivers loved his Lego. It was his passion. His animals, dinosaurs and sea creatures were his favourites. He collected them and he would use his base plates to line them all up and was so proud after he had lined them up in the “Oliver order”. Lego kept him going throughout his treatment it was his therapy and the genuine joy on his face was evident. Oliver visited Legoland Manchester and went to a creative workshop to build a monkey. It was step by step build. Oliver built the monkey quicker than what the lady could describe the colour of the Lego brick.

Oliver also loved fish and enjoyed going fishing with his Grandad. He delighted in catching more fish than him and he liked it even more when he managed to land it in front of his daddys legs, scaring him.

Oliver had a lovely view from his hospital bed looking over Weston park, he was able to wave to family and friends and see the squirrels running around in the park. He also enjoyed getting out of the hospital and visit the museum shop to buy gemstones. He loved to go and feed the ducks and the pigeons. He also loved it when he saw a rainbow. He always made his daddy take a picture and send it to Grandma. He loved seeing them and it made him happy.

Unfortunately, cancer was a big part of Olivers life. He went through so much. He had 9 surgeries, weeks of radiotherapy and months upon months of chemotherapy. He had to have feeding tubes fitted and had wigglys in his chest for all his medications. But even with all this and all the side effect that went with it he rarely complained. He always stayed positive and everyday he had that beautiful smile that everyone knew and loved. How many children would thank the nurses for doing some of the things to him that he didn’t like? Oliver did! His reward for doing all this was to ring the famous end of treatment bell, which he did in front of the family in the middle of Cawthorne park. He rung that bell with so much pride and happiness. A video of that amazing moment was recently shown on TV on the program, Operation ouch - lets talk about cancer. He never got to see that program but even after he'd passed he was still being famous on TV.

Hanging at the front of the church, Olivers beads. These are his beads of courage. Each one represents a treatment, overnight stay, operation, therapy and so on. Almost 2500 beads visually show just how amazingly brave Oliver was throughout. He was so proud of his beads and so are we.

In June2022 the disease came back but again he defied all the odds and continued to tackle it head on for a further 7 months. Oliver passed away very peacefully on the 1^st February 2023 with us holding him and telling him how much he was loved. The smile on his face never left him.

Cancer may have been the cause but please don’t ever think or say that Oliver lost his battle or lost the fight. He was and always will be a winner. He defied all the odds and helped the nurses, doctors and consultants learn new things and improve there knowledge to help future boys and girls. That is the legacy of a winner! Cancer didn’t define Oliver it brought out the superhero that was always inside of him.

Oliver was definitely a home boy. He loved cuddles with us on the sofa, watching TV, playing games and of course building Lego. He just loved life. He loved his family. He loved being with his Grandma and Grandad both at home and the times we went on trips together. He would play Lego stunt bikes with his Grandad and taking grandma on a trip on the Polar express was definitely a night to remember. We always said, home was wherever we were all together. Oliver spent months of his life in hospital but to him it didn’t matter we were together so he was home. He told everyone it was his second home. We were together as a family and thats all that mattered.

Oliver was always content with the simpler things in life like nature and the people he loved. He loved his mummy and daddy, we all kept each other positive and had so many enjoyable happy days together which we will treasure, because as we always said, family is forever. He was an example to us all about quality not quantity. Olivers legacy will live on forever in the people who love him and the people who are here, remembering our superhero today. We will always been grateful for all the kind things that people did for Oliver and know that he was grateful too. His memory will never be forgotten.

Thank you for being the best boy ever. You will always be our son and we will always be your mummy and daddy. We know you will be happy with those who were waiting for you. You carry on building your Lego and talking about your animals.

Until we are together again

We love you sweetheart.

Nighty nighty sleepy tighty

Oliver George Howe

Forever 8💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜