Why am I thankful? Because I got a second chance at life ...

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Teenager Cameron Forbes isn’t focused on name brand shoes or fancy technologies, instead the bright young man admits he’s most thankful for a “second chance at life”.

The 16-year-old spoke of how a tragic accident as a child left him in a Boston hospital bed at the brink of death, in a piece written for the 15th Annual Tom Pettit Thanksgiving Essay Competition.

Cameron, who attends home-school at Learning Express Academy, won first place in the competition after sharing his heartfelt thoughts on what it meant to survive.

After cracking his skull on a picnic bench at the age of seven, he remembered waking up “in a daze” in Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Doctors told his parents he had in fact ‘died’, but miraculously the youngster clung to life after an operation.

Cameron beat out competition from close to 50 other senior school students to take home the top prize, awarded yesterday by Premier Paula Cox at Camden House.

Other top finalists included Allanna Bean and Shamari Smith, from The Berkeley Institute, Sophie Booth-Kempe and Caroline Skinner from Bermuda High School For Girls, Husna Farooqui from CedarBridge Academy and Keira Whited from Mount Saint Agnes Academy.

In his essay, Cameron spoke of how he was moved to a hotel across the street from the hospital while he was recovering from his head injury.

He wrote: “My mother ... had gone to the window and told me to come to look. So I did and to my surprise, on the window of my old hospital room were large painted words, these words ‘Everyone deserves a second chance, a chance you shouldn’t ever forget’.

“Words that will be with me for the rest of my life.

“So you could say I’m thankful for many things, but what I’m most thankful for, is a second chance at life.”

Cameron said he was “surprised” to win, but admitted he was grateful to have even made it to the finals.

He said the accident changed his life and how he looked at certain things. “I don’t take as many risks and try to be very safe. It stopped me because I used to be very active in sports, but I don’t do it any more.

“It’s always in the back of my mind, just thinking about it.”

Though he proved to be a great writer, the teenager actually hopes to become a pastry baker one day.

Cameron took home a $1,000 cash prize grant, with a matching donation going to his school — thanks to sponsors Edmund Gibbons Ltd and Tokio Millennium Re.

Principal Judith Smith, of the Learning Express Academy, gave an emotional speech about Cameron’s development as a young man.

“It’s almost difficult to put into words because my young man was very reticent as a writer to express himself on paper. It was very difficult.

“He has been with us for several years, but to see the growth, development and maturity and to see it brought all together in this one essay is just so special and I am beside myself.”

Mrs Smith, an educator for 49 years, said the matching donation would really help the school in these challenging economic times.

“It’s really special because we are having a bad time financially because some of our kids and their parents haven’t been able to pay the school fees because of the difficult economic times we are having, so this will go a long way to help us.”

All the young people were commended at the awards ceremony yesterday by Premier Ms Cox, who called the essays “raw”, “painful” and “honest”.

“You were bold in saying how you felt and I think everybody if they are honest have to admit they probably had to work to make sure they didn’t have a tear coming down because you were extraordinary. We are thankful because we see the future and it looks beautiful.”

One of the finalists Allana Bean, 16, wrote about the challenges faced when her home burned down this past March. She said she was most thankful for life, her family, faith in God and the kind people who banned together to help them rebuild.

She said being recognised “meant a lot”. “My teacher asked me out of the blue to write this essay and I thought I could just write about what my family went through and how much courage it took to keep us motivated and going on a good path.”

She said it was “hard” to relive the emotions of that traumatic event, but thankfully her family are expected to move back into their home in the next few weeks.

Her mother Andrene Bean said she was proud of her daughter and “happy she spoke from her heart”.

The competition was founded by Patricia Pettit in 1997 in honour of her late husband, Emmy award-winning NBC TV journalist Tom Pettit.

She said it was created to encourage students across the Island to think analytically and bring their thoughts to life “by sharing them with others through compelling composition”.

“You know tweeting and Instant Messaging and texting all have a great place in modern communication, but in no way will they ever replace the power of the written word and nothing proves that as well as the words of our students here today, who through their essay have ideally represented the goals of this competition,” Mrs Pettit said.

Selecting this year’s winners was a panel of judges made up of Royal Gazette lifestyle reporter Nadia Arandjelovic, Bermuda Sun senior reporter Raymond Hainey, well-known educator Florenz Maxwell and Attorney General Kim Wilson.

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