If you’ve been following Elvie’s journey, thank you.

Your kindness, messages, prayers and support have carried our family through the darkest year of our lives.

When our beautiful daughter Elvie was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, our world stopped.

Nothing prepares you for hearing the words, “Your child has cancer.”

What we didn’t realise was that the diagnosis was only the beginning.

More than a year later, Elvie is still fighting.

Childhood leukaemia isn’t one operation or one round of chemotherapy. It’s years of treatment. It’s countless lumbar punctures, chemotherapy infusions, blood transfusions, emergency hospital admissions, infections, procedures and setbacks. It’s living from blood test to blood test, never knowing what tomorrow will bring.

There have been moments over the past year when we genuinely didn’t know if our daughter was going to survive.

We’ve watched her body battle life-threatening complications from treatment. We’ve sat beside her hospital bed through terrifying nights, waiting for blood results, watching monitors, praying the next medication would work. We’ve seen her endure more pain, fear and uncertainty than any child ever should.

The emotional toll of watching your child fight for her life is impossible to put into words.

It changes you forever.

While most people see a brave smile in our photos, what they don’t see are the tears behind closed doors, the sleepless nights, the fear that never truly leaves, or the constant anxiety that the next phone call, fever or complication could change everything.

Cancer hasn’t just changed Elvie’s life.

It has changed all of ours.

I haven’t been able to return to work because Elvie needs constant care. My husband has worked whenever he possibly can while also caring for our other children, supporting me, and dropping everything each time we’re rushed back into hospital.

Financially, we have reached a point we never imagined.

Like so many families facing childhood cancer, we’ve exhausted our savings. We’ve both had to access our superannuation just to survive. Every hospital admission brings more travel, parking, fuel, food, medical expenses and time away from work. The bills don’t stop simply because your child has cancer.

One of our biggest priorities has been creating the safest possible environment for Elvie between hospital admissions.

Because her immune system has been so severely compromised throughout treatment, we converted our shed into a clean, insulated, safe space where she could recover with a reduced risk of exposure to mould and other environmental hazards. It was never something we imagined doing, but when your child is fighting cancer, you’ll do absolutely anything to protect them.

Every decision we make revolves around keeping Elvie safe.

We’ve always found asking for help incredibly difficult.

We’ve tried to keep going on our own because we never wanted to burden anyone else, but after more than a year of treatment, repeated hospital admissions and ongoing complications, we’re simply exhausted—emotionally, physically and financially.

If you’re able to donate, no matter the amount, it will help ease the financial pressure so we can focus on what matters most: getting Elvie through the rest of her treatment and giving her the safest, happiest life possible while she continues to fight.

If you’re unable to donate, simply sharing Elvie’s story means more than you know.

Before cancer, Elvie was a happy, carefree teenager who loved swimming for hours with her friends, adored animals and dreamed of one day becoming a wildlife carer. Even now, after everything she’s endured, that beautiful spirit is still there. She still laughs, still dreams, and still has an incredible ability to find joy in the smallest moments.

One of those moments came when Make-A-Wish surprised her with Murphy, the puppy she’d wished for throughout her treatment. Murphy has brought light into some of our darkest days and reminds us that hope can still exist, even in the middle of the hardest battle.

Our greatest wish is simple.

To see our daughter finish treatment, reclaim the childhood cancer has taken from her, and grow into the amazing young woman we know she’s meant to be.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for standing beside our family and believing in our brave girl.

With love,

Rosie, Adrian, Elvie, Ava, Aston and Coco

Where your donations will help

• Ongoing medical and treatment-related costs

• Travel to and from Queensland Children’s Hospital

• Hospital parking and accommodation during admissions

• Creating and maintaining a safe environment for Elvie while she’s immunocompromised

• Household expenses while I remain her full-time carer and Adrian balances work with hospital admissions

• Supporting our family through what we expect will be years of treatment and recovery