Eight-year-old Sam grew up on his family’s farm with Mum Carmen, Dad Ken, and ten-year-old sister Anna. Sam has always been a happy and active kid, riding his motorbike, playing guitar, and helping his dad out with jobs around the farm.
The day Sam became unwell started like any other day. He had spent the day at school but was on his was to his hip-hop class with sister Anna when a teacher noticed he looked unwell, and phoned Carmen to come and collect him.
Unable to get him into the local medical centre for a few days, Carmen kept Sam at home with what seemed like a run-of-the-mill virus.
On the day of their appointment however, everything changed. As he examined Sam, their doctor began to fear his young patient was in fact terribly unwell. He organised an immediate flight transfer to the closest Children’s Hospital for further examination.
Suspecting the worst, the doctor tearfully advised Carmen and Ken to prepare themselves for shocking news.
The following day, on April Fools Day and 400 kilometres away from home, Sam was formally diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
“It was like the rug had been pulled out from underneath us” says Carmen, “we were in total shock”.
From that moment on, the family was heartbreakingly split in two.
Sam would require a series of month-long chemotherapy treatments which would keep him away from home. But wishing to maintain a sense of normalcy for Anna, Ken and Carmen made the painful decision to split their living arrangements between the hospital in the city, and home.
Sam struggled to cope with this new life in hospital. He was traumatised by the frequent needles and the relentless ongoing treatments. Stuck so far away from his family and friends, Carmen noticed Sam start to shut down emotionally.
Fortunately, Sam’s new mate Captain Starlight was on hand with a healthy dose of fun and laughter, to help him through his sadness and fear.
After Captain Starlight’s initial visits to his bedside, Carmen noticed Sam's cheeky smile starting to re-emerge.
Then, as soon as he was well enough, Sam would head to the Starlight Express Room at every opportunity. For Carmen, it was such a huge relief to see Sam laughing and playing again.
“To see that Sam’s happy and joking character was still there under all that sickness, and that our silly and funny boy was coming back to us was just priceless” says Carmen.
While in the Starlight Express Room, Sam loved to battle it out on Mario Kart, and lose himself in the world of Minecraft. Anna also loved to join in the fun and games when she came to visit, with the Starlight Express Room a great place for the whole family to reconnect after spending so long apart.
With the return of his sense of fun, Carmen also noticed Sam develop a steely determination to get on with his treatment, and to get himself better.
"As soon as I saw what a difference having fun was making to Sam’s recovery, I pleaded with the doctors to get him to the Starlight Express Room as much as possible. He went from a very sick and unwell kid who didn't want to do anything, to a kid who wanted to beat this disease so he could play and have fun with Captain Starlight.”
In fact, Sam loved his time with Captain Starlight SO much, he almost refused to leave! As Sam was released from hospital after six long months away from home, he ran into Captain Starlight in the hallway on the way out. A quick exchange of jokes later, and Sam decided he’d head to the Starlight Express Room for a bit instead of going home!!
For Carmen, this was a huge testament to the impact Captain Starlight has had on Sam’s physical and mental health journeys. Both Ken and Carmen are so thankful for the amazing experience he has had.
“Without Starlight I don't know how we could have woken that inner drive to get better fast inside him” says Ken .
To those who support Starlight’s programs, they would like to pass on this message:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are making an enormous difference to kids in hospital. The Starlight Express Room is the one place where kids can be kids again, and that’s just priceless! It helped us enormously and showed us how important fun is in a child’s recovery”.
