William

William and his best mate Alec are the Baldwin Brothers. They started out life pretty tough – abandoned on a roadside, covered in mange and ringworm.  They spent many months at STAH recovering from their conditions.  We became their foster family in October 2005.  In the next months we grew to love them so much that they just couldn’t leave.

William was our Prince Willy, our Willy Woo. our Big Willy.  He was the soft, quiet, sensitive one of the duo. He loved to lounge around, go for walks by the river, sit by the open fire in winter, and of course eat food.  He would tell us when he was hungry with a loud “woo, woo,woo”   He loved Schmackos, raw beans, rice crackers and BBQ chicken.  When his meal was ready he would do a 360 degree spin in excitement.  There was nothing like a full tummy to make him happy.

Our family was devastated when William was diagnosed with skull osteosarcoma in August this year.  We spent the next 5 months doing the best we could to save him.  Weekly visits to a Brisbane specialist for treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) followed by more chemo locally.  We celebrated his 4 month anniversary of the tumor removal on 16th December but our happiness was short lived.  He suffered a seizure just after Christmas and never recovered, killed by brain damage due to the radiation treatment, a rare side effect.

William will always be our hero.  He went through so much and gave so much.  Everyone who knew him loved him.

"Sleep softly sweet William."