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Former Wallaby Pat McCabe always wondered whether his donations to The Kids’ Cancer Project truly made a difference.
After seeing what his daughter, Charli, went through, he’s seen it first-hand.
Charli’s four years old. Two years ago, Pat picked up that Charli was becoming a little clingy to her mum, Tami. Some bruises on her legs also began to appear. Although mostly unconcerned, they opted to take her to the hospital.
Three hours later, the pair were told that Charli had leukaemia.
“I’ll never forget the way my stomach dropped and my mind began to race. It stayed like that for two years,” Pat says.
Within hours, Charli was whisked away in an ambulance to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick. The McCabes would spend half the year there from then on.
“I witnessed my daughter go through horrific blocks of chemotherapy. The mucositis, the nausea, the pain. I couldn’t comprehend the side effects she was having,” he says.
Charli went through four blocks of high-intensity chemotherapy, with the doctors confident that she’d be in remission by the end of each one.
Each time, the cancer remained.
There was a genuine worry that her treatment wouldn’t work.
That’s where donations to The Kids’ Cancer Project changed everything for us.
For years prior, The Kids’ Cancer Project had been investing into research that maps a child’s DNA. Through that technology – part of the ZERO Childhood Cancer Program – the doctors were able to find clues to allow them to change Charli's treatment.
And as this treatment began, Pat saw his daughter return to her usual self.
“No sickness, no vomiting – all happiness,” he smiles.
After a while, Charli was officially negative and cancer free – all thanks to research and science that The Kids’ Cancer Project had funded.
"Charli’s happy and healthy now, doing ballet and swimming like any normal kid her age. Life is good, and we're grateful to those who helped us," says Pat.
My daughter survived cancer because of The Kids’ Cancer Project’s donors. I’ll never forget that.
“It’s why now I’m focused on changing the story for other Australian kids with cancer. We met so many families along the way who haven’t been as lucky as us. There are also still so many kids, just like Charli, who suffer from life-long side effects.
I’ve seen research save my daughter’s life. We need to fund more to save others.
Charli’s survival started with science. And through your tax-deductible donation, it can be the same story for countless other kids with cancer.
Atax-deductible donation made before 30 June will ensure we can continue to change the story for kids with cancer like Charli.
