Mom Writes Heart-Shattering Post About Her 4-Year-Old's Final Days

Two months after he died, his mother took to Facebook to chronicle his last few days

It took two months for Ruth Scully to summon the strength to write about her four-year-old son’s dying days, and after reading her heartbreaking Facebook post, you might not let go of your kids for two years.

According to the “NolanStrong” Facebook page Scully created to document his fight, “Nolan Scully was 3 years old when diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer, in Nov 2015.”

On February 4th, he passed away. Two months later, his mother somehow managed to put some thoughts down on the page about the final harrowing days of her son’s life, and it’s not an easy read.

In the post, she admits that she needed that time to gather herself before she could write about her son, about how loved and loving he was, and to describe their final few conversations.

“I’ve wanted for a long time to write a little about Nolan’s last days. His last few days shined with how amazing my son is. How beautiful he is. How he was made of nothing but pure love. This may be long, but bear with me, it’s agony unlike any other.”

When you read the post, it’s painfully clear how hard it must have been to write. She shares the heartbreaking moment Nolan told her that he was fighting for her, and how she responded by letting him know it was okay to stop.

“Me: Poot, this Cancer stuff sucks. You don’t have to fight anymore.

Nolan: (Pure Happiness) I DONT??!! But I will for you Mommy!! Me: No Poot!! Is that what you have been doing?? Fighting for Mommy?? Nolan: Well DUH!! Me: Nolan Ray, what is Mommy’s job? Nolan: To keep me SAFE! (With a big grin) Me: Honey … I can’t do that anymore here. The only way I can keep you safe is in Heaven. (My heart shattering) Nolan: Sooooo I’ll just go to Heaven and play until you get there! You’ll come right? Me: Absolutely!! You can’t get rid of Mommy that easy!! Nolan: Thank you Mommy!!! I’ll go play with Hunter and Brylee and Henry!!”

It was just a day or two later, after they pair watched Peppa Pig, played Nerf Gun, and filled out a will – complete with specifications for the way Nolan wanted his funeral to go – that he finally passed on. But not before giving his mother one last gift.

“My angel took a breath, opened his eyes, smiled at me and said “I Love You Mommy”, turned his head towards me and at 11:54 pm Sgt. Rollin Nolan Scully passed away as I was singing “You are My Sunshine” in his ear. He woke up out of a coma to say he loved me with a smile on his face!”

The Facebook post is almost impossible to read, and the strength it must have taken to not only endure what she and her son endured, and what she’ll be enduring for the rest of her life without him, but simply to put her thoughts out there and share their final moments together, is unimaginable.

But she has a good reason. She, like so many parents who suffer such tragedies, wants to shine a light on the severe deficiencies in childhood cancer research and treatment.

Almost 100,000 kids under the age of 15 die from childhood cancer every year, according to the City of Hope cancer center.

“…sadly because of Childhood Cancer (Rhabdomyosarcoma to be specific), the world and our family will miss out on someone so full of love, who just wanted to protect and serve. We HAVE to do better with funding, research, treatment options.”

Nolan was just one of many kids who’ll never be able to realize their dreams, which, in his case, was to be a policeman. He just wanted to help. Together with his mom, whose post about his inspiring life and tragic death has been shared nearly 600,000 times in just four days, spreading awareness of his and other stories like it, he’s doing just that.

At the end of her post, Scully explains the significance of the photo she included saying that Nolan was so afraid to leave her side he cuddled up on the bath mat while she showered. “Now I’m the one terrified to shower. With nothing but an empty shower rug now where once a beautiful perfect little boy laid waiting for his Mommy.”

If you’d like to donate to help offset the family’s continued medical bills, you can do so at Nolan’s GoFundMe page.