Posted On: October 01, 2018
As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month came to an end we were reminded that out of the 950 kids diagnosed with cancer each year, 150 of them won’t make it to next year.
In a bold show of support to those with childhood cancer, 150 students from Waverley College created a visual representation of this horrible statistic in their school playground.
These students stood in solidarity with peer and leukaemia patient, Hugo Kulscar, to capture an image representing the number of children who die each year from the disease. They hope to spread awareness of childhood cancer, its impact on education, and the need to fund research to find a cure.
Hugo Kulscar surrounded by his peers at Waverley College, Sydney.
The Kids’ Cancer Project are committed to that ultimate goal and have committed more than $40 million dollars to date to research projects to improve childhood cancer treatments.
Founder and Director, Col Reynolds OAM has an ambition that within the next 25 years, The Kids’ Cancer Project will no longer exist, gentle yet effective treatments will have been found and no family will be afraid of the words, ‘your child has cancer’.
Until that day, the education and societal impacts of childhood cancer are still significant and diverse.
Australia is lagging behind the United States and Europe in providing consistent services to help childhood cancer survivors successfully reintegrate into their schools.
Some treatments for kids’ cancer mean that only one in 20 survivors are capable of leading an independent life due to the intellectual disability caused by their treatments. The impact on education is clear.
For children that do survive, 99 per cent will have chronic health problems caused by their treatment and 96 per cent will have a severe or life-threatening condition.
The toxicity and intensity of treatments used to save a child’s life can lead to ongoing side effects, which is why the research funded by The Kids’ Cancer Project aims to not only eradicate childhood cancer, but in the meantime make the treatment less gruelling.
An initiative by Missing School is helping combat some of these challenges, linking sick children with educational robots to keep students connected to the classroom while they undergo treatment.
Denai Kulscar, Hugo Kulscar, Jen Hoare (Waverley College) and Christopher the learning robot.
Throughout his treatment, 12-year-old Hugo Kulscar is able to participate in the classroom and socialise with his friends through Christopher the robot.
Only research will save children like Hugo and change the statistic of 150 children dying each year and of cancer as the number one killer for children.
Donate to research and help find more effective treatments for kids with cancer.