KEY POINTS:
Jane and Brian Nicol thought they had lost their son Chris when he was seriously injured in a car crash last year.
But the elation of his recovery was replaced with horror when they discovered seven weeks ago that Chris (20) had terminal melanoma.
Last night, the Oamaru couple were preparing to lose him again.
Chris' family was told at the end of August that he had about three weeks to live, and anything else was a bonus.
Mr and Mrs Nicol last night feared Chris, whom they brought home to die, was in the last 24 hours of his life.
The couple contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday, wanting to reinforce how important it was for people to protect themselves from melanoma by wearing sunscreen, hats and sunglasses. They also urged people to get changes in their bodies checked.
"You've got to have protection," Mrs Nicol said.
"After the accident, he thought he was bulletproof and 10-foot tall," her husband added.
Mrs Nicol said while it might sound harsh, she almost wished Chris had died in the crash in May last year, instead of seeing him go through the past few weeks.
Chris was seriously injured when his newly bought car, in which he was a passenger, hit a power pole near Glenavy. The Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter flew intensive care staff from Dunedin Hospital but, unable to land at the crash scene because of fog, transferred them to an ambulance.
Intensive care and ambulance staff cared for Chris during the trip to Dunedin and police ferried more blood to the ambulance for him.
Mr Nicol said they were told there was a 5 per cent chance of seeing their son alive.
He was initially in a druginduced coma and on a lifesupport machine.
Chris recovered from the accident, but there were no miracles this time around.
The day Chris was released from the Isis rehabilitation ward at Wakari Hospital, in Dunedin, Mr Nicol buried his sister.
She had died from cancer.
"We thought we had been through enough ourselves," Mr Nicol said.
When Chris's damaged spleen was removed after the accident Mr Nicol said it took away his fighting defence.
When Chris developed melanoma, "it just ran rampant" and the cancer was now in "numerous places".
He recently managed to act as "best man and bride giveraway" for his sister Natalie's wedding to Rob Morgan. The service was conducted at his bedside in Oamaru Hospital.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
