Six-year-old Maddie is a sassy, bubbly, and outgoing child. She loves singing and dancing, playing in the park and swimming in the family pool. And for the last four years, Maddie has endured the painful and exhausting treatment for Leukaemia.
After a week long illness at just two-years-old, Maddie’s mum Rebecca started noticing unusual bruises and sores. Multiple unsuccessful doctors’ appointments and still not getting any better, Rebecca decided to take Maddie to their local hospital, where they were given the heartbreaking news that they suspected cancer.
“When you hear the word cancer, you think death,” Rebecca explains. “I didn’t know how we were going to tell everyone what we were just told.”
Within hours, Maddie was rushed to the closest children’s hospital, where she spent the next nine months receiving life-altering treatment and blood transfusions, followed by 12 months of chemotherapy maintenance.
"Being isolated and losing her hair was particularly tough on Maddie,” Rebecca said. “She was so sad, and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t go see her friends.”
The isolation also proved difficult on the whole family. They could no longer attend Maddie’s brother Zayden’s football games and her sister Kylah’s netball games, and watching Zayden go to school was devastating for Maddie.
Another 12 months go by, and Maddie was finally in remission and excited to start Kindy in the new year.
Then, just short of Christmas, Maddie relapsed, and was rushed back to hospital after becoming very unwell within hours. Putting her Kindy plans on hold, the next 2 years involved total bed rest, chemotherapy, radiation, isolation, and a painful bone marrow transplant followed by seizures just before Christmas 2022 due to an infection on the brain.
Thankfully, Captain Starlight was there to make treatment more bearable. While in isolation, Maddie would tune into Starlight TV, to watch shows and play her favourite game, “Is it cake?”. Captain Starlight even referred to Maddie as the Cake Master, as she’d always win!
“While too unwell to visit the Starlight Express Room, Captain Starlight would bring Maddie lots of games, and arts and crafts to brighten her day. They even brought a disco to her room when she couldn’t attend in person – that was really special,” Rebecca said.
The Starlight Express Room also provided a great source of distraction for Maddie’s siblings who would visit during school holidays and hang out in the room all day playing games.
“Until you’re in the world of a medical parent, you don’t realise how much of an impact it makes for them,” Rebecca reflects.
“Starlight makes hospital less scary. It makes kids instantly happy and takes away the scariness, and it was one of the reasons it made hospital stays more enjoyable for Maddie.”
Now out of hospital, the day finally came when Maddie was granted her Starlight Wish. As a huge fan of the Netflix series Wednesday, Maddie decided she wanted to attend the Spooky Nights event at SeaWorld!
Travelling to the Gold Coast for a much-needed family holiday away from hospital and treatment, Maddie was overwhelmed with excitement as she took her first ever plane ride. Maddie had a blast going on rides and meeting all her favourite Spooky characters, but also getting up close and personal with dolphins, and eating all the chocolate she could ever dream of!
“It was the light at the end of the tunnel after years of hospital stays and visits, and we can’t thank Starlight Children’s Foundation enough for always being there in the hardest of times,” said Rebecca.
