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It’s 2018 and life is good in the Austen household. With a first international holiday on the horizon for the two eight-year-old twin boys, Troy and Alec, a routine trip to the dentist should’ve been exactly that. Routine.
Not quite.
Alec, whose adult teeth weren’t coming through properly, had a sizeable lump behind his cheekbone, and was sent to the hospital for immediate testing.
Those tests led to a marathon 16-hour procedure to remove a tumour, only to find out that it had been misdiagnosed, and that further testing and treatment was required.
Finally, it was revealed that Alec’s tumour was Ewing’s Sarcoma – a soft tissue cancer – which resulted in extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
"It was so taxing, physically,” Alec says, looking back on what he endured as an eight-year-old.
“You see the changes – your hair falls out and your body feels weaker – but there are the mental changes that come too.
You become more anxious, and you want to hide away.”
“It’s just so repetitive. Being sick, going back to the hospital week after week and dealing with yet another infection that’s come from the treatment.”
We’re trying to eradicate those terrible side effects by funding the work of researchers just like Dr Emmy Fleuren to ensure more effective, less harmful treatments. You can help us do so by donating to The Kids’ Cancer Project this K’day.
Alec went into remission after his treatment, but there was still no reprieve for his body. The late effects of the archaic methods had begun to set in.
“The radiation has had a lasting impact on me,” he reflects. “One side of my face has stopped growing, completely frozen in time, because radiation just completely fried it.
“Then there’s the chemotherapy. I have ‘chemo brain’, which about 70% of us get. Your memory recall slips and your focus isn’t what it used to be. Someone can give me instructions and ten minutes later, I’ve already forgotten them.
“It’s really taxing because I remember when I used to be sharp, when I used to remember everything. Now, I struggle with daily tasks, schoolwork, even just keeping on top of things. It’s a constant reminder of what the treatment took out of me.”
Today, Alec is the vice-captain of his school, studying hard and pursuing his interests, while still living with the reminders and experience of what he went through.
"When I see someone now, I don’t just see who they are on the surface – I think about what might be going on behind the scenes that no one else can see. You become so much more aware of others. It makes you realise the person next to you might have gone through the same thing, or even worse,” Alec says.
Our official K’day 2026 Ambassador, there’s very few people better placed to advocate for better treatments than him.
“When you have cancer as a child, you lose your childhood.
"All your friends are outside playing soccer and doing normal things, while you’re in a hospital bed, sometimes feeling like you might die from the toxicity of treatment,” he says.
“That was my reality. I didn’t see my friends every day. I spent so much time in hospital beds. At eight years old, that was my world, and I didn’t really know anything else.
“Every time I go back to the clinic now, I see new faces – new kids going through the same thing I did. And if we don’t do something now, that process won’t stop.
“What we do today impacts the future, and that’s what’s important.”
Alec has one instruction for those keen to help kids like him not only survive their cancer diagnosis but thrive after it: Donate this K’day.
“My treatment worked but it was also incredibly damaging.
“Chemotherapy doesn’t just go after the cancer cells; it attacks the healthy ones too and that’s where all the long consequences come from. You see the immune system breaking down, and side effects that stay with you for life.
“That’s why new research into targeted treatments is so important. These approaches aim straight at the cancer cells while leaving the healthy ones alone. If we can remove those harsh side effects that so many of us live with, that’s a game changer.
“So, if you’re thinking about donating, don’t hesitate. Do it.”
To make a donation, or for more information about K’day, hit the button below.
