Jonathon: The boy in the bubble

G’day

Here’s part of a special poem written by a very special person

It's too much to hope for...

It's too much to hope for a life without pain, It's wrong to expect a life without pain,

For pain is our body's defense. No matter how much we dislike it,

And nobody likes pain,   Pain is important,

And, For pain we should be grateful! How else would we know,

To move our hand from the fire? Our finger from the blade? Our foot from the thorn?

So pain is important, And for pain we should be grateful!

Yet, There's a type of pain that serves no purpose, That's chronic pain,

It's that elite band of pain that's not for defense. It's an attacking force. An attacker from within,

A destroyer of personal happiness An aggressive assailant on personal ability

A ceaseless invader of personal peace And, A continuous harassment to life!

Chronic pain is the hardest hurdle for the mind to jump,

Sometimes it is almost impossible to jump, Yet, we must keep trying,  And trying, And trying,

Because if we don't, it will destroy.

And the mind can manage it, And the mind will become stronger for the practice!

All pretty deep and insightful, eh! What if I tell you it was written by a 9 year old boy who lived daily with chronic pain – you’d probably say inspirational. But wait there’s more.

Over the last few years the teenager, Greta Thunberg has been attracting world-wide media attention for her stance on climate change but the same boy who wrote that poem, Jonathon Wilson-Fuller, the boy in the bubble, over 30 years ago was already in print with his incredible climate change warning in his book “Will you please listen: I have something to say”

Jonathon was given the boy in the bubble label, because he was allergic to the environment. I met him, at the age of 11, when I was a regular on the Today show. The Producer asked if I could interview Jonathon for a segment on TV.

What an experience – Jonathon wore mask and protective clothing – I couldn’t use any deodorant, no after shave, no aromas of any sort – then when we arrived at the house, after we got the all clear, we were escorted to the lounge room and Jonathon was carried in to meet us, very pale and wan but what a brilliant incisive mind.

Even at that tender age Jonathon was doing Year 12 Maths and Science. His message was clear way back then – why don’t people listen, we are polluting our planet, we are sending waste into our oceans and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

And to the argument “yes but what can one individual do that would make any difference, Jonathon said, we might just be one little drop in the ocean but it’s those drops that make the ocean – if we all unite across the world in demanding change, we could turn the tide, we could swamp the world with our message.

Thirty years ago, Jonathon was shouting this message, so you’d have to ask, if a 12 year old can see it, is it just apathy or greed that makes it so much harder for adults?

Jonathon, my Humble Heroes collection wouldn’t be complete without you. Even to this day, I regard you as one of my most inspirational teachers of all time. Thank you!