Sammy Scully remembered by mum, Alison Harrison in tribute
Sergeant Sammy Scully‘s mum has shared his devastating final words after he lost his brave battle with incurable brain cancer.
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Brave Sergeant Sammy Scully and his mother Alison Harrison had a ritual.
Whenever Ms Harrison would tell her beautiful, nine-year-old son, who was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, “I love you” he would reply: “I love you too mummy”.
“We would grab each other’s little pinky fingers and say, together: ‘together, forever, always’,” Ms Harrison told The Advertiser.
“And that is the last thing he said to me.”
After two years battling diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), Sammy died at his family’s Andrews Farm home on Tuesday morning.
“(His last words) will be my next tattoo,” the mum-of-three said.
“We have a bond that can never be broken.”
Ms Harrison described her son as “a ray of light”.
“He was the cheekiest, funniest, resilient little boy,” she said.
“An old soul and no matter who he was talking to, it could be the King of England or the Premier or the homeless person … he did not change who he was.
“He had a way of touching people and reaching them, where they would open up to him and speak to him like a little man, a human, not just a little boy.”
Diagnosed in January 2023 after he began to be “a bit wobbly”, doctors told Ms Harrison her son would only survive a year.
“He held on for a lot longer than what anyone expected, he was just unbelievable,” she said.
Sammy told his mum he wanted to marry her if he could because he loved her so much.
“I felt it was the most beautiful thing in the world,” Ms Harrison said.
“He used to grab my hand while we were driving, just hold my hand just driving along in the car singing his The Kid LAROI songs.
“He would wake up in the middle of the night and serenade me with You Are My Sunshine at 3am.”
The Angle Vale Primary schoolboy had dreams of becoming a police officer and eventually he was made an honourable Sergeant in May 2024, then in January this year, Commissioner Grant Stevens promoted Sammy to Senior Officer.
Commissioner Stevens said SAPOL first met Sammy when they learnt of his dream to become a police officer.
They spent time with him riding in the police helicopter, on the police boat, visiting the police horses and dogs.
“We also knew he wanted to ‘blow sh*t up’ so we made that happen with our bomb response section,” Commissioner Stevens said.
“It is with great sadness that I on behalf of all South Australia Police extend our condolences to his mum Alison, sisters Erin and Abigail and dad Sean as well as all his friends at Angle Vale Primary School.”
Premier Peter Malinauskas said Sammy captured the heart of the state.
“We saw an outpouring of generosity to Sam and his family through the work of a lot of people,” he said.
“Sammy demonstrated the power of hope and he will be remembered for it.”
Sammy’s brain has been donated to medical research.
“He’s not going to die in vain, his name won’t be forgotten,” Ms Harrison said.
“I will make sure of it, only good things are going to come of Sam Scully.”
Sammy was born on February 5, 2016. He died on April 8, 2025. He was nine years old.
If you’d like to donate to Sammy’s family, you can here.
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Originally published as Sammy Scully remembered by mum, Alison Harrison in tribute
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