Theo William Shisler was a remarkable, sparkling, beautiful, special child. He touched the lives of thousands and thousands of people in the seven months he was with us. He allowed those who knew him to reach inside themselves and find the very best they could be. He helped to heal our families and brought more love into our lives than we never knew existed in the world. For all this we are humbled and grateful.

Theo had the sweetest, gentlest, kindest nature I have ever known. His life was at best uncomfortable, at worst he was in pain and yet he rarely complained about anything. He had a sense of serenity and acceptance about him that was contagious. Holding Theo in my arms, feeling his little fingers on my face was as near as I have felt to heaven in my lifetime. He was easy to delight. A cuddle, some kisses and a song or two; his favourite bit of pink string to play with; his darling Felix to gaze at; his Mozart tapes and his dummy.

I do not know where to begin to explain what he meant to us. We always knew that he was different somehow, not just because of his neurological problems but because of his spirit. I used to tell him that he didn’t need to go to heaven to prove to me that he was an angel – I knew already, and I did. There was something about Theo that went beyond innocence – he was as near to being a pure spirit as any of us have ever met. He endured, peacefully and with patience, more than most of us could bear.

He had a wonderful smile that would break across his face whenever he saw me. His first smile came one day as we were at one of our lowest points, just starting to understand how very poorly our babies were, and feeling drained and hopeless. Then there it was, perfect and unmistakable and containing enough joy to propel us through the next days and weeks and months. And the day he first reached out for me and touched my hair, I knew I had felt a miracle and I thought my heart would burst with pride. Our journey over these past 7 months has been more challenging than we could possibly have imagined but every step of the way our darling boys have eased it by the sheer force of their love and the reward of their presence.

The gratitude that Danny and I feel for having had Theo in our lives is beyond words. We have truly been blessed with this incredible child. Our grief at his death is immeasurable. We stand at the eye of the storm, calm whilst our pain whirls insanely around us. And yet we do have a sense of peace as well. We feel our son’s presence all around us and we hear his laughter. We are comforted by the knowledge that he is free and happy and no longer in pain. At his death he was with doctors and nurses who we know and love and who we trust absolutely with our most treasured possession. If they could not save him it was because he could not be saved. Our little Theo had had enough, he had done what he was meant to do here, and so he just stopped. He stopped breathing, his heart stopped beating and he went away and this time no-one could stop him.

How many of us can say that we have achieved in our lifetime what Theo achieved in his? You will hear messages of condolence read out – they are just a fraction of the hundreds that we have received in the past days. And we are determined that his life will continue to touch others and that through us, he will continue to make a difference. I doubt whether we would ever have had the courage or the imagination to choose this path, but we are so honoured to have been chosen for it. To have been allowed to know Theo, to love him and hold him. His gifts to us are many but we will never forget these truths: that every day of every life is precious, that happiness is a gift that we choose for ourselves regardless of our circumstances, that love is the only thing that really counts and that we should treasure those around us always. It is too easy to see the bad in the world, our little boy taught us that it was a place full of special people, daily miracles and an ocean of love if we would only open our hearts and find it. We will thank him forever for teaching us how to do that. Few souls will ever give so much to this world and take so very, very little from it.

We love him and miss him so very much. It is hard to believe that we will ever stop hurting and yet, we know that we will. Our family will always keep him close in our hearts and we will be forever changed by having known him.

We ask you all to help us give thanks to God for the loan of his beautiful angel and also to keep little Felix in your prayers as he struggles to recover from his terrible illness and the loss of his soul mate and twin.

Our sweet Theo is dancing in the heart of God, the heavens are smiling, we must try to share their joy.