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My Prayers and thoughts are with Steve & Family at this difficult time.
Keep Fighting Ice Tiger, We are all with You!
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Well said Sir
Final update on Steve, from his Wife Helen. My thoughts are with the family at this time. R.i.P Steve you legend. WAWAW xxxx
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we must announce that Steve Ball breathed his last breath at 10.30 this evening surrounded by his close family. He bore his illness with great dignity and bravery and remained resolutely positive throughout. Whilst our sense of loss is extreme we are thankful he is no longer in pain and in a way we hope he is now reunited with his mum who died when he was younger than Max is now. His decline over the last few months and in particular over this last week has at times been heart breaking and unbearable; a level of suffering you would not wish on your worst enemy.
Oesophageal Cancer is a very cruel disease for by the time symptoms manifest it is invariably too late to be fully cured. We would urge anyone having swallowing or stomach problems, please, please, please get it checked out.
Steve was very pragmatic about his illness. He likened it to a poker hand. You can't chose the hand you are dealt and consequently you make the most of it rather than moaning about it.
But over this last year we have been so grateful for the time we have spent with him, making the most of his good days, collecting many special memories that we will have forever; from watching salmon jumping the weir to having tea with The Queen; paddling in the sea at Weston-Super-Mare to battling over penny falls in the Las Vegas amusement arcade in Barmouth; from watching the mighty Owls at Wembley to flying real owls. Who could also forget the many posts by friends and family on Facebook of putting an owl decoration on their Christmas Tree in respect of #TeamBall.
For us we remember our last holiday together in July 2015 to Florida with great fondness. Little did we know at the time that he already had cancer, but it was the happiest of times we spent together.
We were also happy that he managed to see Max complete his #MaxAndTheMac12 Challenges; he saw each one as another milestone to keep going and he was so proud of Max's endeavours raising over £12k for Macmillan.
We are thankful that he had such a wonderful time with Splashy. When he was first diagnosed with terminal cancer he would always ask how we would cope and flippantly we would say we'd buy a dog and call him Splashy after Steve (the announcer at Sheffield Weds was called Stevie Splash, so that's what we called him). It was fate that we went to Hilbrae Rescue Centre on the day we did and found Splashy; he brought him such unconditional love and some of our lasting memories will be of us taking Splashy into hospital and the hospice and him sitting on his bed.
Steve's legacy lives on in all of us and in particular Henri & Max who have inherited many of those characteristics and mannerisms he had (some good and some downright irritating). He saw his two children as his greatest achievement in life for they have both grown up to be wonderful adults with beautiful minds and hearts.
He was never mean spirited or angry or bitter with anyone. He was never materialistic about things or driven by money and saw experiences as being far more important. Before he died he made us listen to Deciderata by Les Crane and Sunscreen by Baz Luhrman and maybe these songs are a lesson for us all in having a more contented and fulfilled life.
He was so proud in what we all achieved and used his often cantankerous ways to motivate us to do more. We will carry on that legacy and live every day as he did, as if it were our last, though we can't guarantee we'll put the toilet roll on the right way, shut doors after we've walked through them or squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom; things he would regularly berate us for.
We would like to thank all those who cared for him over the last 12 months. We are quick to criticise the NHS but they have been fantastic and shown great care and compassion to all of us. We would also like to thank the Severn Hospice for their support; they have been with us throughout. We would like to thank our friends, family and work colleagues for their tremendous support; we have been truly humbled by the goodwill messages we have received; we could never have retained the strength that we have.
We are all truly proud of him and will miss him dearly.
very sad to hear. steve remains my virtual friend.
Thanks for a lovely epitaph.
The post I was dreading.
In some ways, I'm pleased his suffering has ended, it must have been horrible.
He is at peace now.
God bless Steve, & rest in peace.
Thoughts go to Helen, Max, Henri & Splashy. They'll all miss him terribly.