Pom in Oz with Derek Goforth: The parental ordeal of a sick child reveals untold strength and resilience

As a parent, nothing prepares you for the experience of watching your child fall ill. It may begin with the subtlest of signs — a sniffle, a pallor, or a slight shift in their usual energy. But suddenly the familiar landscape of parenthood can morph into a nightmare where the wellbeing of your little one hangs in the balance. There are no parenting books, no self-help videos, and no YouTube channels that prepared me for watching any of my children get sick. Helplessness, for me, set in the moment I stepped into the doctor’s office. Diagnostic procedures and treatment plans are laid out like a complex puzzle, and the vulnerability you feel is overwhelming. You — the protector, the anchor — find yourself adrift in uncharted waters. The role of protector is handed over to a relative stranger. Every needle prick, every scan can become a harsh reminder that you are dealing with forces outside your control. The silence can be deafening in waiting rooms, where time seems to crawl, and the weight of the unknown presses heavily on your shoulders. Your mind transforms in a battleground of emotions. There’s fear, anxiety, and a desperate desire to trade places with your suffering child. The nights become sleepless stretches of worry, with silent prayers whispered into the darkness, pleading for a swift recovery. Yet even in the depths of this parental nightmare, a strength emerges—an unspoken resilience that allows you to weather the storm. You can offer comfort and reassurance to your ailing child even though fear is coursing through your own veins. After all, parental love transcends your own fears and anxieties. It’s primal, a deep-seated God-given desire to nurture and protect our young ones. A glimmer of hope can emerge in the form of support of friends and fellow parents. The shared experiences of those who have weathered similar storms become lifelines of understanding. In coffee shop conversations and huddled discussions in waiting rooms, you find solace in the shared journey of parenthood. I implore anyone who experiences this to heed this advice: as the journey through your child’s illness unfolds, so does your capacity for enduring and overcoming. The experience, while excruciating, reveals the depth of your parental bond and the lengths you are willing to go to shield your child from harm. Hopefully recovery comes swiftly to wash away any lingering fears or worries. After all, the best gift you can receive is a healthy, thriving child. Derek Goforth is an expat of 13 years and father of three living and working in Geraldton