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Family find 3,000-word secret message written by daughter who died of cancer
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After their daughter lost her fight with cancer, Dean and Caroline Orchard knew they had to face the devastating task of sorting through her belongings, Daily Mail reported.
What they didn’t know was that they would discover something that would make them feel closer to 13-year-old Athena than ever, the report said.
On the back of her bedroom mirror, the little girl had secretly written a 3,000 word message for her parents and siblings, according to the report.
In it, she gives advice for them to live by and reveals her unshakeably positive attitude, writing: ‘Every day is special, so make the most of it. You could get a life-ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day. Life is only bad if you make it bad.’
Mr Orchard, 33, said: ‘I started reading it but before long I had to stop because it was too much. It was heartbreaking.’
Athena was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of 12, after collapsing just before Christmas in the kitchen of the family’s home in New Parks, Leicester.
She had an emergency seven-and-a-half hour operation to remove a tumor on her spine, followed by months of chemotherapy targeting the cancer in her spine, shoulder and head.
She lost her hair and much of her strength – but not her positive outlook. In marker pen on the back of the mirror, she wrote: ‘Happiness depends upon ourselves. Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, maybe it’s about the story. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.’
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