ianstone
08-30-2010, 04:21 PM
When I touched the dolphin it felt like my dad was next to me
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spda_682_1108420a.jpg Dream trip ... brave Brandon Campbell holds on to new pal at SeaWorld's Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida
MARC GIDDINGS
BRAVE Brandon Campbell wraps his arms around dolphin Jenny and lets the gentle animal guide him through clear waters.
Within seconds, this magical experience has helped the ten-year-old escape the terrible grief that has consumed him over the past four months, and become a child again.
Brandon, whose father Serjeant Steven Campbell, 30, was killed serving in Afghanistan earlier this year, says: "From the first moment I touched the dolphin it felt like my dad was there next to me.
"Since he died I've felt sad and angry but here I feel free and happy."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spde_380_1108421a.jpg So proud ... Brandon Campbell in Army fatigues
at his hero father Steven's funeral in April
NORTH NEWS AND PICTURES
The image of the schoolboy's wide, infectious smile is in marked contrast to the silent tears he shed at his hero dad's funeral on April 14.
Dressed in Army fatigues and carrying a single red rose, Brandon looked pale and disbelieving as the coffin carrying Steven's body passed him by, draped in the Union Flag.
Moments earlier the crowds lining the small village street in Pelton, Co Durham, had broken into applause at the sight of Brandon marching behind the coffin at the head of his family. "Like father, like son," they concluded.
The youngster's quiet dignity in the face of crushing grief became a symbol of a battle being fought on two fronts - by soldiers in the killing fields of Afghanistan and their families back home in the UK.
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews
Some soldiers never make it home alive, and many families find home unbearable without the loved ones they mourn.
Brandon says: "I was proud of my dad being a soldier but I sometimes worried about what would happen to him. He always reassured me he would be OK so I never believed he wouldn't come home.
"I will always remember our times playing football and watching films - just the two of us. He was a kind man and a brave man, a hero. I hope he is free now and in heaven.
"If I could talk to him I would tell him I love him very much and would let him know I'm taking care of Mum just like he told me to. I hope he would be proud of both of us."
Sjt Campbell died in an explosion in the Taliban heartland of the Sangin district in Helmand province while on patrol with 3rd Battalion The Rifles.
But this week The Sun helped Brandon's dream of swimming with dolphins come true when we flew him and mum Lisa to Orlando, Florida.
Lisa, 34, joined him for the swim - but is finding life without her soulmate bleak.
Recalling how they met in their hometown of Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, she says: "From the moment I first laid eyes on Steven, I knew he was 'the one'.
"We met at a nightclub in September 1998 and swapped names and phone numbers on scraps of paper. I discovered that he still had his bit of paper in his wallet on the day he was killed. The Army sent it home."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdf_380_1108422a.jpg Happier times ... Steven Campbell with wife Lisa in 2007
The pair married within five months of meeting and son Brandon was born a year later.
Aware of her husband's passion for the Armed Forces, Lisa, an office administrator, quickly moulded herself into the role of an Army wife and made the best of married quarters on bases in Salisbury, Wilts, and Cyprus.
She says: "Steven grew up wanting to be a soldier and no one could persuade him otherwise. He started as a private in the 2nd Light Infantry but was promoted through the ranks after tours of Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Iraq.
"He loved everything about his job and never discussed the possibility he might not come home. I would cry during every 'goodbye' and phone call but he always reassured me he would return alive.
"While he was away I kept busy working and threw myself into my role as a mum.
"Steven was a wonderful, loving father and Brandon wanted to be just like him. He would dress up in his dad's Army kit at any opportunity and vowed to follow him on to the battlefields."
But last Christmas marked a change in Steven. Lisa says: "He volunteered to go to Afghanistan because he said he would feel terrible guilt if anything happened to one of his regiment while he was back home.
"But the preparations seemed inadequate. The kit he needed wasn't ready and he had to rummage around our garage looking for gear he had worn in Iraq.
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdb_380_1108423a.jpg So brave ... Steven serving in Afghanistan in Bebraury
"We exchanged presents and enjoyed our time together but Afghanistan was a cloud hanging over us and this time the goodbyes were different.
"Steven left on Boxing Day and, as usual, I was sobbing, but he didn't tell me he would be home. Instead, he walked across to Brandon, who was sitting on the stairs and gave him the most tender cuddle I've ever seen.
"He told him, 'If I don't come home, son, know that I will always love you - and look after Mum'.
"I knew then that Steven wouldn't make it home. Inside, my heart was breaking."
Lisa was further upset when Steven's usual upbeat phone calls home sounded haunted and deflated.
She says: "He wasn't himself and just kept saying how horrible it was and how he couldn't wait to come home. He said he would never volunteer for another tour of Afghanistan."
But ever loyal to the job he loved, Steven reassured his wife the British presence in Afghanistan was not in vain.
She adds: "He told me there were many schools being reopened, which made the soldiers feel their job was worthwhile."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdc_180_1108435a.jpg Wild time ... Brandon and Lisa meet natives at Discovery Cove
But Lisa's intuition proved right. On March 22, she received the devastating news that Steven had been killed.
She says: "I'll never forget it. Ironically, it was the first night I'd managed to get Brandon to sleep in his own bed.
"The next morning, at 7 o'clock, there was a knock at the door and I knew this was because of Steven. My first words to the Army official were: 'Please just say he's been injured.'
"He shook his head. I felt my body go numb as he broke the news. Steven was killed at 8.30am while crossing a bridge on a quad bike.
"The trailer attached to it hit an improvised explosive device - known as an IED."
Since that moment, Lisa has felt trapped in a waking nightmare, struggling along with the help of her parents and sister Andrea, 40.
She says: "The hardest thing is knowing Brandon will grow up without his dad.
"He is so like him in every way, especially his caring nature. Every time I start crying, he hugs me and tells me it will be OK."
She said of Brandon's dolphin treat: "He has deserved every moment of this holiday and we are so grateful to everyone who has made it possible."
The Sun teamed up with SeaWorld Parks to lay on the swim for Brandon at their Discovery Cove marine park, plus visits to their SeaWorld, Aquatica water park and Busch Gardens attractions.
Brandon says: "It will be hard to leave here and return to life at home without my dad but I know me and Mum will find it a bit easier to smile after this.
"I wish Dad could have been there with us swimming with the dolphin but I know he was watching."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spda_682_1108420a.jpg Dream trip ... brave Brandon Campbell holds on to new pal at SeaWorld's Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida
MARC GIDDINGS
BRAVE Brandon Campbell wraps his arms around dolphin Jenny and lets the gentle animal guide him through clear waters.
Within seconds, this magical experience has helped the ten-year-old escape the terrible grief that has consumed him over the past four months, and become a child again.
Brandon, whose father Serjeant Steven Campbell, 30, was killed serving in Afghanistan earlier this year, says: "From the first moment I touched the dolphin it felt like my dad was there next to me.
"Since he died I've felt sad and angry but here I feel free and happy."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spde_380_1108421a.jpg So proud ... Brandon Campbell in Army fatigues
at his hero father Steven's funeral in April
NORTH NEWS AND PICTURES
The image of the schoolboy's wide, infectious smile is in marked contrast to the silent tears he shed at his hero dad's funeral on April 14.
Dressed in Army fatigues and carrying a single red rose, Brandon looked pale and disbelieving as the coffin carrying Steven's body passed him by, draped in the Union Flag.
Moments earlier the crowds lining the small village street in Pelton, Co Durham, had broken into applause at the sight of Brandon marching behind the coffin at the head of his family. "Like father, like son," they concluded.
The youngster's quiet dignity in the face of crushing grief became a symbol of a battle being fought on two fronts - by soldiers in the killing fields of Afghanistan and their families back home in the UK.
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews
Some soldiers never make it home alive, and many families find home unbearable without the loved ones they mourn.
Brandon says: "I was proud of my dad being a soldier but I sometimes worried about what would happen to him. He always reassured me he would be OK so I never believed he wouldn't come home.
"I will always remember our times playing football and watching films - just the two of us. He was a kind man and a brave man, a hero. I hope he is free now and in heaven.
"If I could talk to him I would tell him I love him very much and would let him know I'm taking care of Mum just like he told me to. I hope he would be proud of both of us."
Sjt Campbell died in an explosion in the Taliban heartland of the Sangin district in Helmand province while on patrol with 3rd Battalion The Rifles.
But this week The Sun helped Brandon's dream of swimming with dolphins come true when we flew him and mum Lisa to Orlando, Florida.
Lisa, 34, joined him for the swim - but is finding life without her soulmate bleak.
Recalling how they met in their hometown of Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, she says: "From the moment I first laid eyes on Steven, I knew he was 'the one'.
"We met at a nightclub in September 1998 and swapped names and phone numbers on scraps of paper. I discovered that he still had his bit of paper in his wallet on the day he was killed. The Army sent it home."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdf_380_1108422a.jpg Happier times ... Steven Campbell with wife Lisa in 2007
The pair married within five months of meeting and son Brandon was born a year later.
Aware of her husband's passion for the Armed Forces, Lisa, an office administrator, quickly moulded herself into the role of an Army wife and made the best of married quarters on bases in Salisbury, Wilts, and Cyprus.
She says: "Steven grew up wanting to be a soldier and no one could persuade him otherwise. He started as a private in the 2nd Light Infantry but was promoted through the ranks after tours of Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Iraq.
"He loved everything about his job and never discussed the possibility he might not come home. I would cry during every 'goodbye' and phone call but he always reassured me he would return alive.
"While he was away I kept busy working and threw myself into my role as a mum.
"Steven was a wonderful, loving father and Brandon wanted to be just like him. He would dress up in his dad's Army kit at any opportunity and vowed to follow him on to the battlefields."
But last Christmas marked a change in Steven. Lisa says: "He volunteered to go to Afghanistan because he said he would feel terrible guilt if anything happened to one of his regiment while he was back home.
"But the preparations seemed inadequate. The kit he needed wasn't ready and he had to rummage around our garage looking for gear he had worn in Iraq.
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdb_380_1108423a.jpg So brave ... Steven serving in Afghanistan in Bebraury
"We exchanged presents and enjoyed our time together but Afghanistan was a cloud hanging over us and this time the goodbyes were different.
"Steven left on Boxing Day and, as usual, I was sobbing, but he didn't tell me he would be home. Instead, he walked across to Brandon, who was sitting on the stairs and gave him the most tender cuddle I've ever seen.
"He told him, 'If I don't come home, son, know that I will always love you - and look after Mum'.
"I knew then that Steven wouldn't make it home. Inside, my heart was breaking."
Lisa was further upset when Steven's usual upbeat phone calls home sounded haunted and deflated.
She says: "He wasn't himself and just kept saying how horrible it was and how he couldn't wait to come home. He said he would never volunteer for another tour of Afghanistan."
But ever loyal to the job he loved, Steven reassured his wife the British presence in Afghanistan was not in vain.
She adds: "He told me there were many schools being reopened, which made the soldiers feel their job was worthwhile."
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01108/snf19spdc_180_1108435a.jpg Wild time ... Brandon and Lisa meet natives at Discovery Cove
But Lisa's intuition proved right. On March 22, she received the devastating news that Steven had been killed.
She says: "I'll never forget it. Ironically, it was the first night I'd managed to get Brandon to sleep in his own bed.
"The next morning, at 7 o'clock, there was a knock at the door and I knew this was because of Steven. My first words to the Army official were: 'Please just say he's been injured.'
"He shook his head. I felt my body go numb as he broke the news. Steven was killed at 8.30am while crossing a bridge on a quad bike.
"The trailer attached to it hit an improvised explosive device - known as an IED."
Since that moment, Lisa has felt trapped in a waking nightmare, struggling along with the help of her parents and sister Andrea, 40.
She says: "The hardest thing is knowing Brandon will grow up without his dad.
"He is so like him in every way, especially his caring nature. Every time I start crying, he hugs me and tells me it will be OK."
She said of Brandon's dolphin treat: "He has deserved every moment of this holiday and we are so grateful to everyone who has made it possible."
The Sun teamed up with SeaWorld Parks to lay on the swim for Brandon at their Discovery Cove marine park, plus visits to their SeaWorld, Aquatica water park and Busch Gardens attractions.
Brandon says: "It will be hard to leave here and return to life at home without my dad but I know me and Mum will find it a bit easier to smile after this.
"I wish Dad could have been there with us swimming with the dolphin but I know he was watching."