
After losing his eldest son, Samuel Symons, to an aggressive brain tumour earlier this month, Red Symons has paid a tearful tribute to his “beautiful son” on 3AW this morning.
“Samuel, I have always loved you, I will always love you, I shall always have you,” Symons shared with listeners – who he also thanked later in the program for their “overwhelming support”.
The radio personality and his wife Elly learnt of their son’s diagnosis when Samuel was just four.
“He was remarkable in his own way in that at four years old, you sort of come to terms with the fact that he’s not going to be here,” Symons said this morning.
“Twenty years later, he’s got a master’s degree. He was the most qualified person in the family.”
He went on to describe a conversation about death he had with Samuel just weeks before his passing.
“I asked him, ‘how do you feel about death?’,” Symons said.
“He said ‘I don’t worry about death because it’s been part of my life’.”
On 3AW earlier this month, the radio show on which Red Symons is a regular, Neil Mitchell read out a statement from the Symons family.
“It is with the deepest sadness Red announces the passing of his beautiful son, Samuel Symons,” it read.
“Samuel passed peacefully overnight surrounded by his family. We ask that you please respect the privacy of Red and his family at this very sad and difficult time.”
While Symons was private about his son’s experience with cancer for many years, he appeared on Australian Story in February 2010 to tell Samuel’s story.
Samuel was just four when he was first diagnosed with a brain tumour, and it was expected the surgeries to treat it would cause brain damage and paraplegia. He made a full recovery, but in Year 6, developed thyroid cancer. It was a diagnosis, however, plagued by a hospital error, that meant the tumour wasn’t treated for three months. Several surgeries failed to remove the cancer, and in Year 10, Samuel was diagnosed with another brain tumour.
He was 18 when he spoke on Australian Story.
“Even at this stage in Year 12 I still have thyroid cancer and I still have a brain tumour in my head which is a little bit off-putting,” Samuel told the ABC show.
“I used to think what it would have been like if I didn’t have cancer but what’s the point of thinking about the past when you can just think of now?”
Top Comments
I am sorry for the family's loss, but am glad they got 27 years with this wonderful man. His efforts, his words and his advocacy actions will live on to benefit others.