Briarna's Story
Briarna's journey of fighting cancer began when the then eight-year-old complained of a sore leg. Her parents, Danielle and Heath had noticed Briarna's limp was getting worse and rushed their young daughter to the doctor. It wasn't what they had planned for their nine-year anniversary celebration.
As you might know, cancer doesn't care about your plans. It also doesn't prepare you to answer your eight-year-old daughter when she asks "Am I going to die?"
For Briarna and her parents, a cancer diagnosis not only meant having to answer the hard questions, it also meant relocating interstate as life-saving treatment wasn't available in Tasmania for this form of cancer.
When you decide to give a family fighting cancer a much-needed 'home away from home', and you give before June 30 you will receive your tax benefit this financial year.
"I remember a rising panic when the doctor said, 'we need to do further investigations." Danielle admits, "I found it difficult to pay attention."
Further tests and biopsies revealed that the then eight-year-old Briarna had Ewing's Sarcoma. The nearest and best treatment for Briarna was in Melbourne.
It may sound simple, but a place to call "home" was critical in Briarna's fight for life. You see Briarna and her parents live in Tasmania, a long way from the life-saving treatment needed. So when they realised something was seriously wrong, they had to make the big move - fast.
This is where you come in.
"Accommodation sounds like a simple thing," says Danielle with tears in her eyes. "but finding accommodation with Fight Cancer Foundation changed our nightmare into something a little more liveable."
Do you know what this means for Danielle and Heath, to be able to live alongside their little girl in comfort as she fights for life? Or for Briarna herself - to have her own bedroom as she faces fears we wouldn't wish on anyone, let alone a child.... When a family faces a long fight against cancer, Fight Cancer Foundation helps ease some of the burdens families face.
A gift this financial year will mean that a family can stay together.
"Looking back, being alongside Briarna was a critical decision," Danielle says now, "The treatments and medical language is very complex, so I took on the role of talking to the medical staff, while Heath would distract Briarna with his dad-antics!"
In our accommodation centres, we not only keep families together. We also bring families together. "It was awesome to have other families facing the same journey. We all had something in common," Danielle says.
This support was even more vital when Briarna faced heartbreaking setbacks.
"When they told me that they could see new tumours, I felt like I had been knocked to the ground and slapped by the doctor," Danielle shares.
"Waiting and not knowing what was going to happen... Wondering when the nightmare would end?"
It has now been three years since this terrible journey started and like Briarna's first question, sometimes the answer to how things will end is unknown. Yet today, Briarna is living life each day as it comes.... with grace, strength and a smile.
For families like Danielle, Heath and Briarna, Fight Cancer Foundation thanks you for your support.
Donate now so a child like Briarna can receive life-saving treatment with her mum and dad by her side every step of the way. There is no greater gift for a child facing the worst of all questions.