A Mighty Boy
By Sarah Pullen
A powerful memoir about love and loss
Unbound Exclusives
About the book
How would you react if a stranger told you your ten year old son was going to die?
A Mighty Boy is a story about love and loss. The book is an account of our journey as a family after our ten year old son, Silas, was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour - from the instant those fateful words were spoken to his death and beyond.
This book shows that it is possible to find the strength for a journey that you don’t want to go on; that it is possible to find a new way to live even when death is knocking on the door. It is a book about wrapping a small boy in love but still letting him get grubby knees. It is about learning to savour every moment of the here and now yet also learning to let go.
It is a book about grief too, in all its many guises, and the search to find a way to mourn in this modern world. Grief can be ugly and raw and at times incomprehensible yet it has to be better to confront it than hide it away behind closed doors.
At its heart, though, A Mighty Boy is a story of the love between a mother and a son. It is a book about seizing the moment and somehow managing to survive the death of a child, but most of all it is a book about a small, smiling boy.
"This is one of the most profoundly moving and honest books that I have read. The author writes about grief in a way that is both clear-eyed and emotionally charged. Silas inhabits the book completely and the author does a fantastic job of allowing the reader to get to know her son." Euan Thorneycroft of A.M. Heath Literary Agency
The Silas Pullen Fund
Brain tumours kill more children than any other cancer and yet receive barely any funding. I hope A Mighty Boy can help change that as no parent should ever have to hear a stranger tell them their child is going to die. I hope you will support this book as once the initial subscription has been raised then my share of the profits (50% of every book sold) will go to The Silas Pullen Fund (a fund we set up after Silas died under the umbrella of The Brain Tumour Charity). This book will also contain a memorial list for children who have lost their lives to a brain tumour. We will contact subscribers for names and dates before the book goes to press.
Well done Sarah. I have pledged to support your book & will send the info on to others who might be able to help too. Lx
Thanks for your support Laura xx
Hey Sarah, how does the $POA work? I clicked the link and it just took me to an email address. Wasn't quite sure what exactly to write.
Hello! If you let us know how much you'd like to pledge via email then we can sort it out for you. Thanks, Phil
Hi Sarah. Have just pledged. My son was 8 years old last year when he had an operation to have his brain tumour removed. I'm so sorry for your loss xxx
Thank you for your support Su. I hope your son is doing well. It is a difficult path to walk beside your child and I wish you the strength for your journey. xx
I've pledged in memory of my Son George Rodd who died in 2013 aged 3 from a brain tumour. Your amazing for writing this book I'm sure it will raise lots of money for The Brain Tumour Charity. Good luck x
Thank you. I am sorry to hear about your son's death - it breaks my heart to hear of another child taken by this disease and I feel your pain. I hope my book will help raise awareness and help change the outcome for children in the future. If you want your son to be mentioned on the In Memoriam page in the book then see the link under my most recent post in the Shed at the top of this page - it will take you to a form to fill in. May the future be kind to you. xx
I have pledged money in memory of my son, Bobby Cox who died in July 2014 aged 5 from a brain tumour. We have felt our way through the grief by trying to organize a number of charity events to raise money for both the Brain Tumour Charity and the John Radcliffe Childrens Hospital, about £80, 000 to date and rising. I was given information about your book from some parents whose daughter is in my boarding house and they are friends of yours. This journey feels very long and lonely and I still feel very angry about what has happened. Thank goodness for my husband and daughter as we try and work this out together, Good luck with your book, Best wishes, Harriet Cox
Harriet. So many beautiful boys die from this disease - it is unbearable and so many families are affected and yet nobody seems to know. I am so sorry that you are having to make this journey too - it is very long and lonely and unbelievable agony. Well done with your fundraising - it was the only way we could make sense of our grief too. Hopefully between us we can help give families in the future more hope. If you would like to say a few words about Bobby on the In Memoriam page then please read my latest Shed post for details or follow this link - https://goo.gl/forms/mrLAvoUCvSlGOlhg1 - I wish you continued strength for your journey and will be walking this path beside you. Sarah xx