The Boy and the Butterfly
This is a true story of a little boy called David and his inspirational journey to find a Blue Butterfly – and the meaning of life along the way.
David was a normal, happy little boy – just like any other. He lived with his single mum who doted on her only child.
When David was only 6 years old, he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. His doctors only gave him a short time to live – 6 months at the most.
Over the following months David became too sick and weak to play with the other boys and girls, so he began to collect butterflies. He was fascinated by their cycle of life – the caterpillar, the cocoon and the beautiful butterfly that finally emerged.
His mum got out lots of books from the library on butterflies for David to read. David could now barely walk so reading and studying his butterfly collection was all he was able to do. In one of the library books, David found a picture of the most beautiful butterfly he’d ever seen – a big blue butterfly called the “Blue Morpho”.
The Blue Morpho was only found in South America – but David was determined to catch one before he died. But how could he? After all, he was now confined to a wheelchair.
Because his ultimate dream was to catch the blue butterfly, David’s mum did everything she could to make David’s dream come true. And eventually, his wish was granted by The Children’s Wish Foundation, a foundation that grants wishes for sick children.
But it wasn’t that simple. Because David was in a wheelchair, they couldn’t find anyone to take him on his dream journey. His mother spent fruitless hours talking to entomologists (people who study insects like butterflies) in an attempt to get them to take David to South America but no-one wanted to take on the risky job. Until Dr Brossard came along.
Dr Brossard, a well know entomologist, accepted the challenge and agreed to help David catch his blue butterfly.
They travelled to South America, and no-one expected David to survive the journey because of his ill health – but he was so excited about catching the butterfly that he made it in good spirits. The butterfly was very difficult to catch – after several attempts, they finally chased a blue butterfly into the jungle, Dr Brossard carrying David on his shoulders and they finally caught the beautiful butterfly.
David had achieved his dream.
When David returned home, his doctors didn’t expect him to live much longer because he was so ill, but David had a renewed strength to fight his cancer. And after years of medication and perseverance, David won the battle.
He is now cured of his cancer and is a healthy adult!
