Codee-Jo was diagnosed with ALL in April 2017 and it was something as a parent you never think you would hear. Seeing your little one go through so much pain with treatment and just generally the cancer hurting her was so hard to bare. It was absolutely one of the hardest things we have ever had to go through.

She is now in remission. We are so incredibly relieved to be on the other side and so proud of not only Codee-Jo but our whole family and close friends for winning the battle.

Getting to know Codee-Jo

My favourite animal:

My favourite animal is Harvey (the families bearded dragon), followed by Dodger (the families dog that has passed).

What/who makes me laugh:

Lily (my cousin) makes me laugh but also lots of things make me laugh.

My perfect day:

Being together with my family and besties - swimming in a pool, having an ice cream, going to the movies and having dinner with everyone.

Zara was diagnosed with Philadelphia Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in September 2019, had a very rough year mostly admitted but now over half way through maintenance and she's doing well, enjoying Lion Hearts Learning and Kindy.

Getting to know Zara

My Favourite Animal:

Is a sloth, I had a sloth toy the whole time in hospital, he was called guy and he went everywhere with me even theatre.

What/who makes me laugh:

Lots of things make me laugh, Our silly cat Dimsim! TV show Oddbods and plenty of other shows, being tickled, being silly with Grandad!

My perfect day:

Playing with my best friend Jaxton.

Joshua was diagnosed with ALL in November 2018 this completely turned our world upside down. Having a child that had Autism made a lot of the treatment very difficult. Since January 2021 he has now finished treatment and is in remission we are starting to go back to some kind of normal and has transitioned back to school so well.

Getting to know Joshua

My favourite animal:

Penguins because they are so cute.

What/who makes me laugh:

My sister.

My perfect day:

Finding a diamond, that would be the best day.

Knox was diagnosed with T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) on 25 April 2020. He is now in maintenance, which is a less intensive schedule of treatment to keep any residual cells at bay. He will be having treatment until the end of 2023. He is enjoying some Lion Hearts Learning days and sometimes kindy if his bloods are ok

Getting to know Knox

My favourite animal:

A T-rex, because I like the razor sharp teeth. I want to be a T-rex when I grow up.

What/who makes me laugh?

Daddy tickles, because he always gets my tickliest spots.

My perfect day:

Is a Tuesday, I just sit down and relax and play with my sister Lyla.

My Name is Teena, My daughter is Miss Chelsea with the attitude lol. She is now 10 with alot of Sass. They surely know when she's there!! Chelsea was diagnosed in June 20 and has High risk B All . She is still in intense treatment due to many many delays in intensive care with set backs. She is right at end so hoping in next 4 weeks we might hit maintenance. Yay . She has been Amazing for what this poor little mite has had to endure!

Getting to know Chelsea

My favourite animal:

Is a dog. I love them because they are cuddly and easy to take off.

What /who makes me laugh:

I love to laugh with friends. This makes me very happy.

My perfect day:

Going somewhere they have rides and activities to do.

Ollie was diagnosed with B-ALL in December 2018 and it felt like the world stood completely still, rearranged itself and went in an entirely new direction. It meant so many of our life plans changing including no kindergarten for him and a whole new normal. Nothing can prepare you for seeing your small child so unwell and knowing that his healthy sister was never getting the attention she deserved. Not only is the diagnosis awful, but the treatment itself caused Ollie multiple life threatening complications. Ollie just hit his 1000 days of treatment with hopefully only 8 months to go and we are so proud of him. We’d never have coped through this without the support of our amazing family, friends and the charities that do so many wonderful things for these children.

Getting to know Ollie

My favourite animal:

Is a bear.

What/who makes me laugh:

Being tickled or when people tell me funny jokes (he loves puns especially).

My perfect day:

Easter because I get to eat chocolate.

Our family was devastated upon learning that our month old daughter Cassy was diagnosed with rare congenital ALL in June 2019. We had a difficult time to process what was happening but we just entrusted God to give us peace of mind and guidance to people that were involved in her treatment. She underwent stem cell transplant when she was 6months old. We are truly grateful to her medical team and most especially we are grateful to God for the gift of life. She is now in remission and loves going out. She enjoys going to Lion Hearts to play and learn with other kids.

Getting to know Cassy

My favourite animal:

My favourite animal is a lion, I like it when they "roar".

My perfect day:

Exploring everything around me especially outdoors.

George was diagnosed with ALL not long after his 1st birthday. As you can imagine it was not what we expected to hear, I don’t think we realized how much our lives would change or what challenges we were about to face and still do now in maintenance.

Moved from a remote town to Adelaide for a year of intensive treatment. Then back to my home town to get some family and friend support after we missed it terribly due to distance and the pandemic.

We are actually back in SA now for not sure how long again due to boarders being another challenge.

One thing George struggled with was not seeing other little people. He has so many friends at home and is such a social butterfly.

When we discovered LHL playgroup it was seriously amazing. He loved having friends again. When you have been watching your little person go through all the chemo, treatment, procedures and tests, seeing him have his cheeky smile and interacting with other kids was everything to us.

Social interaction is so important at the young age and to know he wasn’t completely missing out was such a relief.

Getting to know George

My favourite animal:

A Lion because they go ROAR.

What/who makes me laugh?

Everything makes me laugh & the Peter Combe song ‘Mr Clicketty Cane’

My perfect day:

A day at the beach or camping.

Ethan has brightened our lives with his smile, laughter and love. He enjoys his Super Mario Nintendo games and numbers. He's intrigued by the way things work and surprises you with how much he remembers. He loves to play, chat and play fight. Having Leukaemia from 3.5 yrs old has taken away the innocent childhood that we take for granted. But we have a bond like no other, an appreciation for life like never before and a even bigger love for Ethan than you think you can have. Ethan lights up my world .

His favourite animal are bunnies he likes the soft fur and they are cuddly.

He laughs at YouTubers doing silly actions or cartoons. He loves the movie The Queen's Corgi.

His perfect day is playing with his friends, jumping castles, playing Super Smash Brothers and water play.

Ethan is kind , loving , funny and caring 😊

Zoë

In December 2017, We left Brisbane for Adelaide for an adventure and a bit of a sea change. We had no idea we were hurtling towards the biggest curveball life could throw at us. Before we even settled into our AirBnB on arrival in SA, we stopped in at a paediatric emergency clinic as Zoë had been a bit flat with a high temp for a few days - something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. We thought we were being over cautious. We thought we were being paranoid parents. It was cancer. To say we were blindsided is an understatement. We were in shock - to the point I was convinced every morning they would tell us they made a little mistake & all was fine, she had a nasty cold. Zoë spent a month in hospital, and most of 2018 was spent between home and hospital with admissions for chemo and the illnesses associated with chemo. We limited our interaction with anyone outside our bubble, and soldiered on. This isolation lasted for 2.5 years. With the support of family tag teaming support, friends cheering us on from other states & our new found friends here in Adelaide, we made it through. Zoë is now in remission and if all seems like we have woken up from a nightmare.

Bronte

Amidst all of this chaos, our little bundle of energy Bronte was born. We had to schedule her birth between rounds of intense chemo - and she arrived safely into the world. She grew up on the outpatients oncology ward - crawling between bays and taking her first steps at the clinic. For both Bronte and Zoë we had huge concerns for the social and emotional development. This level of isolation meant they couldn’t learn social cues naturally in a group setting. Fortunately Lion Hearts Learning was started and Zoë could start seeing other pre-school aged children and interact away from her parents. With time, Bronte was also able to attend. She had been excluded from daycare for the duration of Zoë’s treatment to minimise germs coming into the house. Without LHL both girls would have had such struggles to assimilate to the routine and structure of a learning environment.