The family of a "generous, kind-hearted" boy who died after a valiant cancer battle have vowed to fulfil his final wish.
George Galbraith, 16, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma - a rare form of cancer affecting the soft tissue - in March 2020. He died on August 16 this year, not long after being crowned Prom King at Halewood Academy, which he attended.
Before he died, the brave teenager, who faced his illness "with grace and dignity and courage", expressed his desire to hand out presents to children at Alder Hey children's hospital this Christmas. Now, his family want to make his dream a reality.
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George's mum Paula Surridge, 43, said: "I find it difficult to describe the kind of boy George was. I could speak for hours about the lovely things. He had a heart of gold and had been like that since he was little.
"George lost one of his granddads to cancer when he was little and he baked hundreds and hundreds of cakes for a cake sale for Cancer Research. He's always been that way, very gentle, very forgiving, with a big heart.
"The way he battled his illness was with grace and dignity and courage all the way through. The strongest of men would have broken, but he never once complained or even felt sorry for himself. He was always thinking of other people.
"Every cancer journey is difficult, but George's journey was off the scale. He had the most intense treatment, from chemotherapy to radiotherapy to major surgery. In August 2021 he had surgery to remove most of his bladder. So he was in hospital a lot of the time, and while he was there, although he was very poorly, he was still thinking of other people.
"He just wanted to make other people happy. He could hear the little ones crying and it used to really upset him. He wanted to cheer them up. It hurt him that there were little ones going through what he was going through. He never thought about himself. So I wanted to do something for him. It's what George would have wanted."
Called "George's Legacy", the charity campaign was named in reference to the teenager's love of the musical Hamilton, which describes "planting seeds in a garden you will never see". The song was quoted at his funeral, which took place at St. Ambrose Church in Speke on August 30.
His auntie Jodie Parker, 31, said: "George was one of a kind. He was so generous, so kind-hearted, so loving, so caring. He was just truly an amazing young boy. Words just don't compare to him. There was only one George. I don't feel like anyone was quite like him, nobody was made of the same cloth. All he wanted was to give to people and make other people smile.
"All George wanted to do was help the children in Alder Hey. The one thing that hurt him the most was hearing the children being upset. His wish was if he could be here for Christmas, he'd like to go to Alder Hey and give them all a gift to cheer them up.
"He passed away on August 16, so he was never able to make his wish come true. So we thought we need to make his wish come true and make his legacy become a reality."
George's former school, Halewood Academy, is also supporting the campaign, with pupils being called on to drop off Christmas presents at reception.
A letter from the school, shared with The ECHO, read: "George was an amazing student who strived to attend school when he could and sat a number of GCSEs. His dream was to attend the Y11 prom, which he did and was voted Prom King by his peers. He will always be remembered fondly at Halewood Academy.
"George fought his cancer for two long, tough years but right throughout this battle he shone with his empathy and kindness to others."
Paula said: "George was so brave and determined, he even attended his college open day and school leavers assembly in between IVs whilst really sick on long hospital stays. He thought of others right to the end, as a few days before he passed we asked him what wish he wanted from Make A Wish and he wanted a locket for me. He never asked for anything all his life, even when sick.
"We couldn't be prouder of him. Words cant describe how amazing he is and how truly loved he is by us all and everyone that ever got to meet him."
She added: "Nothing is ever going to take away the pain of losing him, but we know we're doing this for George, and it would make him happy."
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