Our hearts are heavy as we share the heartbreaking journey of our beautiful niece, Willow, and her parents, Andrew and Mel. Willow, only 2 years old, is currently in a fight for her life, battling an incredibly rare form of leukaemia, and presently, mucormycosis – a rare and aggressive life-threatening fungal infection. We are seeking your support to help her and her family during this incredibly challenging time.

On the evening of 21 July 2025, Willow was taken to RCH Melbourne, extremely unwell with a dangerously high fever. Overnight, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and immediately admitted to the Cancer Care Ward (Kookaburra), where she has remained ever since. Less than 24 hours prior, Andrew and Mel had received the joyous news that they were expecting their fourth child, thanks to successful IVF treatment they had commenced just three weeks earlier. The happiness of this news was quickly replaced by devastation as their world was turned upside down in such a short space of time.

Willow’s chemotherapy treatment started immediately, which wiped out her immune system. During this time, she contracted the mucormycosis infection. Willow was critically unwell for many weeks before a diagnosis was able to be confirmed. Although she responded positively to leukemia treatment, the mucormycosis had aggressively attacked her spleen, liver and chest wall, resulting in an aggressive treatment response of multiple medications (both standard and experimental), four surgeries resulting in the eventual loss of her spleen and a section of her liver, and daily hyperbaric oxygen therapy over six weeks – which could not have been possible without the cooperation and incredible support of the team at the Hyperbaric Unit of The Alfred Hospital. Brave little Willow has been stronger than anyone could ever imagine, having endured so much already over the last five months at such a young age, more than many will experience in their lifetime, and still with a long and uncertain road ahead.

Andrew and Mel have needed to ensure that Willow has had a parent by her side with her around the clock since her admission to hospital in July. This has meant that they have both had to take leave from their employment, and will need to remain on leave for the foreseeable future as we enter 2026. Your support will provide Andrew and Mel with the priceless gift of being able to continue to stay by Willow’s side to ensure she gets the best possible chance of recovery, cover daily expenses of fuel, road tolls and car parking, and help care for their children at home and new baby arriving in March.

We understand if you cannot donate at this time, but if you can please share widely with your family and friends, we would immensely appreciate it. Every share, thought and dollar means more than words could ever express and we thank you from the bottom of our heart for wrapping your arms around Willow, Andrew, Mel and their family as they continue their fight for a long and happy life for Willow.

Your support will truly make a difference to this beautiful family.

With love,

The Gagliardi and O'Callaghan Families