Thank you!
You’re creating happiness for sick kids like Lexi and her family, day after day, and we can’t thank you enough!
When Evan and Renee took their two-year-old daughter Lexi to the emergency department, they never imagined what was to come.
Within 24 hours, their world was turned upside down.
Lexi was diagnosed with a cancerous Wilm's Tumour on her right kidney that had ruptured and spread to her lungs.
"We were heartbroken," her dad Evan said. "Renee and I felt like our world had been ripped away from us.”
Lexi had 20 weeks of chemotherapy, eight general anaesthetics, 25 nights in hospital and a major surgery to remove her right kidney and clear the tumour.
Hospital was a scary place for Lexi. She felt traumatised by her loss of control, and all the needles and endless procedures she had to endure.
As part of her ongoing treatment, Lexi is back in hospital regularly for further chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Unable to go to day care, little Lexi also missed out on vital social interactions – laughing and playing with other kids her age.
Despite everything she’s been through, Lexi's bright spirit and inner strength continue to shine.
Amid so much pain and sadness, Captain Starlight and the Starlight Express Room provide vital moments of joy and happiness when the family needed it most.
Lexi loves playing with the Captain Starlights so much that instead of being frightened of hospital, she’s excited to go. That’s why happiness matters - helping sick kids cope with the challenges of every day they face in hospital.
"It's not 'going to the hospital', it’s 'going to the Starlight Room' for Lexi! A trip to the Starlight Express Room has become an event we can build our day around and gives us something to talk about before and afterwards," her dad says.
In the Starlight Express Room Lexi loves the giant interactive computer, the gaming area and the magnetic fishing game which she loves to play with the Captain Starlights.
“It's difficult to realise how important donations really are until you go through it and see it for yourselves. The fact that Starlight is there with a single purpose of putting a smile on kids' faces is the most heart-warming thing ever; and seeing that smile on your own child's face in times of high stress and worry often puts a smile on your own face too!”
Evan and Renee are so thankful for the difference Starlight makes to their family – and that’s only possible thanks to the kindness of our supporters.