Donate to help Rhi and Jake through a tough time.

Hi everyone, it’s Rhiannan here.

Having achieved the absolute miracle of hitting the target as we start the first cycle of chemo, I want to say there aren’t enough words that Jake and I could ever say to thank each and everyone of you for your generous donations. We are truly blown away. The Go Fund Me wasn’t something we sought, but we are fast appreciating the incredible gift it truly is. You are all a part of my story now and I promise to keep fighting

The news continues to be such a shock for our family and what Josh started and what you all helped to create, has made the financial pressure and inability to work much less frightening, its gifted us time and space to be in this together. During chemo, I’m all about good days and bad days and the hospital has been like a second home in the past two months. Izaac has spend majority of his life at Sir Charles Gairdner Cancer Centre and he has made fast friends with all the nursing staff who care for me. After two round of intensive chemo, I will have another PET scan to determine next steps with treatment but will commence stem cell therapy within the next week and they tell me what’s ahead isn’t light work. But for both of us knowing how supported and loved we are, it has already given us so much strength to keep fighting.

Thanks for all the love, support, messages, wishes, donations and trying to keep my bucket full. It means the world to me and to Jake, we really are so lucky to be surrounded by family, friends and all of our people.

Donate to help Rhi and Jake through a tough time.

A whole bunch of people who love Rhiannan, Jake and little Izaac have gotten together to create this epic Go Fund Me. It’s a crap situation and not one you ever want to find yourself in, Rhi and Jake haven’t asked for this, but we all feel helpless, and this is one way we can come together and support them. Their story ….

Rhi and Jake are a gorgeous couple from Kalgoorlie, WA. They share a little miracle bub called Izaac, who was born premmie in August, 2022. In May last year they were living in NSW and making plans to come back to Kal as Rhi was pregnant, she was starting to have a few issues with not feeling right and blood levels being off but nothing was coming back with answers. They had just made an offer on a home in Kalgoorlie when they received the diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, it was completely devastating for them both and their families. Rhi was thrust into a world of invasive testing with bone marrow biopsies and biopsies of a mass in her chest, all while growing a tiny innocent human in her belly. Knowing you have cancer is terrifying enough, but knowing you have it while you are pregnant is beyond imagination. They were being told and being asked to make impossible decisions about the baby, treatment, hospitals and so much more. They didn’t have time to think, to accept or to even be together while it all happened. Rhi was advised to come back to Perth for an immediate consult and Jake was left to pack up, load the car, dogs and bikes and do the Nullarbor trek. Life was spiraling out of their control and they were so scared. Rhi fought for her baby, fought for herself, and did all they asked of her with Jake right by her side. Izaac was born safe in a rapidly dissolving placenta, at 32 weeks, tiny but alive. Treatment for Rhi intensified and the ripple effect of that on her body was debilitating, while recovering from a c section and trying to be in the moment with a newborn. All the feels and magic of being a new mum were stripped away with the side effects of the chemo, rashes, nausea, hair loss, finger burns, and fatigue – she legit got the lot. Then there was the back and forward to Perth constantly which is 600kms each way, her beautiful mum Lynden who had taken extended leave and Jake taking turns in loving and supporting both her and Izaac. It was heartbreaking and we could only stand by and watch the struggle. Then in November finally some good news, she appeared to be in remission, with no signs of the mass on scans and Amber as the tumour was known had gone. They celebrated and had a huge party, the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp divorce party with Rhi as Amber minus the tumour! But less than a month later Rhi started feeling unwell, she pushed through was brave and convinced herself she was ok, until she wasn’t. Jake insisted she goes to emergency, she did and had scans, those scans showed Amber was back bigger than ever and placing extreme pressure on her heart and organs making it difficult to breathe. Her team of specialists was speechless and could not believe it, Rhi and Jake together with their families completely shattered, but now the challenge is real. With no time to pack up properly, they fled to Perth for a PET scan which only confirmed their worst fear. Treatment plans were made and more intensive than previously, with more side effects and more to lose. More hard and horrible decisions. They now face months in Perth not being able to return to Kalgoorlie to see their puppies, Jake loving Rhi full-time and not being able to work having just purchased a home and Izaac growing and gorgeous and just going along for the ride. Lynden is back at work and none of us, not even the experts ever expected this would be their reality and all within 12 months. They are a formidable team, and they smile brave smiles and try and find humour in life but this has taken everything to fight and they are just getting back on the bloody merry go round to do it all again.

So as private and special as they are, if there is one good thing that comes out of this whole mess let it be a way to lessen their financial burden, which is huge, how bloody amazing would that be.