Cameron's Great Escape From Hospital!

465 days and counting...

That's how long Cameron McCallum has been stuck in the paediatric intensive care unit - and many of those days he has been fighting for his life. After being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in July 2022, Cam experienced multiple serious side effects from his chemotherapy treatment, the most devastating occurring in December 2022 when he developed acute necrotising pancreatitis. This led to a bowel perforation, and multiple bouts of life-threatening sepsis over the past 15 months. Cameron was reliant on a ventilator to breathe for 390 days and has only recently had a tracheostomy removed - he can finally breathe on his own again! By some miracle he has survived all of this but not without life-long and life-limiting consequences. He has a long-term ileostomy (stoma bag), needs kidney dialysis 3 times a week for the rest of his life, and he currently cannot walk at all or even sit unsupported. Doctors have advised that he will be reliant on a powered wheelchair for several years while he builds up his muscle strength and learns how to walk again.

The McCallums would like to thank the community for their ongoing support over the past 2 years, which has helped keep the family afloat while they have been split between hospital and home. Ann remains on unpaid leave from work to care for Cameron on a full-time basis and will continue to do so. They would like to gratefully acknowledge all your generous donations to the previous GoFundMe, "We Stand With Cam", as without them they would have been unable to make ends meet.

Cam will shortly be discharged from the intensive care unit to a general paediatric ward. He will soon be well enough to finally go home, which is awesome, but there are a few giant obstacles in the way. Cam is wheelchair dependant and reliant on carers for all his personal needs for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, his family home is not accessible in any way. The family are currently exploring options for Government funding to assist with works to make the house liveable for Cam. Until the work has been done, Cam will be stuck at the John Hunter Hospital. While this is going on, the most important thing for Cameron's mental health and ongoing rehabilitation is to be able to leave the hospital environment for short day trips, to attend school, visit friends and family, and reconnect with his community. In order to do this he requires an accessible vehicle. Public disability transport is unreliable due to a serious lack of accessible taxis in Newcastle.

At the moment, the family's goal is to buy a second-hand, wheelchair accessible van so that they don't have to rely on public transport and Cameron can get on with living the life that every teenager deserves, despite being stranded in hospital for what could be months or even years. This is where we need your help. We are fundraising for the cost of the van, and associated ongoing running costs.

Any amount you are willing to contribute is greatly appreciated. Please share this GoFundMe far and wide: $5 from a stranger matters. $10 from one of your coworkers makes a difference.

If you'd like to stay up to date with how Cam is going, please apply to join the Facebook Group "We Stand With Cam". It's a private group with some screening questions (to avoid the scammers) - please answer the screening questions and one of the admins will approve you.

Thank you so much for your support!

Emily, on behalf of Ann, Mark, Cameron and Nick.