As some of you know, the end of 2025 wasn’t a positive one for our family. Just before Christmas we received the news that my brother Ross had a brain tumour that was causing huge amounts of swelling on his brain and needed to be removed immediately.

Ross started getting headaches in early December, but having had a sinus surgery at the end of November he assumed it was related to that. Quite quickly these headaches ramped up and were accompanied by vomiting episodes and by the 18th December he called an ambulance as he couldn’t feel his hands or feet. He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where they discovered the brain tumour and various other masses in his body. He underwent a craniotomy where the tumour was successfully removed and sent away for testing. He is recovering remarkably well post-op and we were able to have Christmas together as a family.

Devastatingly, we have been told that he has Stage 4 Melanoma with metastases to his brain, lymph nodes, lungs and pelvis. He is having a PET scan this week to determine where else the cancer has potentially spread. At this stage the treatment will most likely involve a combination of radiation, immunotherapy and chemotherapy with an unknown prognosis.

If you know Ross, you will know that he is an incredibly loving person who enjoys the simple things in life. He has a passion for travel, animals, being outdoors, hiking, taking great care of the environment, marine life and generally any type of adventure. He is witty, generous and an incredibly thoughtful gift giver. He is a deeply adored son, brother, Uncle and friend.

After spending some years in Tasmania, he has settled back here in Adelaide and was enjoying his new career with National Parks, where he was not only an integral part of their fire fighting team but able to spend a majority of his time outdoors.

Ross being fair skinned and ginger has meant he always takes exceptional care in the sun and has regular skin checks, with his most recent one being back in March 2025. This makes the diagnosis feel all the more cruel and unfair.

At the age of 27, he has received life-altering news that means the future he had envisioned for himself is undetermined. For the foreseeable future he is unable to drive or work and will undoubtedly be feeling unwell with the expected treatment.

We remain positive that he can fight this, modern medicine is incredible and we are so grateful that 2025 was a groundbreaking year for Melanoma research. There are lots of new treatment options and we are hopeful that his young age and otherwise good health are on his side.

As the prognosis is unknown there is minimal financial support from Centrelink and whilst we as a family will do our best to support him in every way we can, I am hoping to ease the burden of him worrying about rent, bills and travel costs whilst he undergoes the battle ahead. Please keep Ross in your thoughts and prayers and donate if you are able. If you can take one thing from reading this, it’s please book a skin check if you haven’t had one recently. Melanoma is diagnosed every 30 minutes in Australia and as we now know, you’re never too young.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support we have all received so far x