Nate's story
" Our son, Nate was born with a very rare and
aggressive form of leukaemia called ‘Acute Myleoid Leukaemia’. The doctors told us he would recover within six months. To our enormous relief, he did.
But when Nate was 21 months old, we got the devastating news that the cancer had come back. His treatment had to start immediately.
The doctors told us Nate’s type of leukaemia was very rare and related to a Down Syndrome gene that Nate has. He was also one of the youngest children at the hospital to begin chemotherapy.
During his treatment, I stayed at home to look after Nate’s brother and sister, while Patrick stayed with Nate in hospital. On weekends we’d swap over.
When we arrived at the hospital, the social worker handed us a Redkite Red Bag. There were heaps of useful items inside that you need when you first go to hospital. The bag made us feel cared for and that someone was helping us at the start of our cancer journey.
But their journey had only just begun. They were under so much pressure and couldn’t pay all the bills.
For many months, our family of five was surviving on a quarter of one wage. Mortgage and bill payments don’t stop just because your child is sick.
We must have mentioned our financial worries to our social worker.She said, ‘Give the bills to me. I’ll fill out the paperwork and Redkite will pay them.’ It was such a relief and one less worry for us as parents.
During the loneliest times, there was always someone ready to listen.
Cancer is a very lonely experience. Being at home and separated from Nate and Patrick during Nate’s treatment was incredibly hard.
Children are supposed to outlive their parents but there were many times like that when we thought we would outlive our son. That’s a shocking thing to go through.
Talking to a Redkite Social Worker on the phone helped me cope through many difficult times. She listened and provided advice to help me deal with what I was feeling. It was then that I realised I was strong enough to get through it.
Nate is almost three years into remission but the journey hasn’t ended. Redkite is still there for his family.
The doctors say they’ll consider him cured when he reaches that three year milestone. As a mother, I don’t know if I can ever believe that. I think I’ll always worry about it coming back.
But we were so lucky that we were able to take home our son and that, at the moment, we have a very happy and beautiful little boy.
Redkite is still there for us. I know that I can still talk to a counsellor if I need one. We’ll always be thankful to Redkite for the support they gave us and continue to give us. It makes a world of difference. "
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