Our beautiful Mum Laurette, was recently diagnosed with an extremely rare type of Cancer named Epithelioid Haemangioendothelioma. Only one in a million people are diagnosed with this particular type, so it is an incredibly unlucky diagnosis. Up until now, our family have been private on the matter as we have been working alongside Doctors and specialists to figure out potential course of treatments or surgery options etc.

How the Journey began …. 6 years ago (2019), Laurette moved here to Australia for a fresh start and to further pursue her career in Social work. The last few years, she has accomplished great success within the workforce and made a wonderful little life here in Melbourne.

Surrounding herself with a small, but tight knit group of friends along with being the pillar of light in our family, she has (up until 2 months ago), been healthy, happy and able!

Those of you who know Laurette, will be aware of her infectious positivity, her bubbly, outgoing personality, her generous nature and her ability to make your day brighter …. even if she is having a rough day!

She is always the first to volunteer, lend a hand, offer help when needed and gives the best hugs to anyone willing to receive them.

Unfortunately, Mum is not currently able to continue employment due to her diagnosis and the intense treatments she is receiving daily. To make matters a little more dire, she is not currently eligible for Centrelink financial aid as she has not yet lived in Australia for more than 10 years.

As a family, my brothers and i are supporting as much as we can and continue to have the utmost respect and unconditional love for our Mum and her situation. She has handled her diagnosis and treatments with complete optimism, grace and integrity.

while we absolutely understand lots of families have struggles of their own, for the first time in our lives, we are reaching out to our Whānau, friends and community and to help us keep Mum’s life in tact here in Melbourne while she fights the beast we call Cancer. Please do not feel obliged to give however, if you do, only donate what you can.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for taking the time to read this through and thank you for your support during this trying time. We hope to have Mum in remission before we know it.

Mum is strong (and stubborn haha), she has got this !!

Much love and respect,

Laurette, Kerri, Jordan, Ethan and Regan xx.