Goldie is 20 months old.
She should be chasing her sisters through the backyard. She should be wobbling toward us with that proud little smile toddlers get when they finally master walking.
Instead, she is fighting one of the rarest & most aggressive childhood cancers in the world & we only have a few weeks to tell her story.
At home, we call her our “Golden Bean.”
She has the brightest, cheekiest little grin. She loves collecting rocks; small, ordinary stones she treats like treasure. She fills her tiny hands with them & organises them into little piles wherever we go.
Before all of this, we never thought twice about those moments. Now they feel sacred.
In mid-2025, we started noticing things that didn’t feel right. As parents, you just know your child. There was a growing sense that something was wrong. Goldie began losing her motor skills. She went from almost taking her first steps…to collapsing… Then to not being able to bear weight at all. We knew something was wrong. We asked for help.
We repeatedly raised concerns & asked for imaging to understand what was happening. Unfortunately, those concerns fell on deaf ears & were not acted on at the time. Months later on 22 October 2025, everything changed.
Goldie became critically unwell & was rushed for emergency care. Scans finally revealed the cause: a large tumour crushing the nerves in her spine.
Our baby was taken into emergency spinal surgery.
No parent can ever describe what it feels like watching your terrified 17 month-old be wheeled into an operating theatre, not knowing what the outcome will be. Whether she will walk again, whether she will survive.
Goldie is still recovering from that surgery & working incredibly hard to regain her strength & motor skills.
Further testing confirmed that she has an extremely rare & aggressive childhood cancer called an extra-cranial malignant rhabdoid tumour.
These tumours are so rare that only a handful of children in Australia are diagnosed each year. In Goldie’s case, the tumour is located in her spine & pelvis — an especially uncommon & complex presentation, with very few documented cases internationally. Because of this, we have had to seek second opinions from specialists overseas to ensure every decision gives her the best possible chance.
Since diagnosis, Goldie has undergone intensive chemotherapy. It has been frightening & overwhelming.
Lengthy hospital stays apart from her sisters.
Fevers. Infections. Transfusions.
Watching her body shrink.
Watching her hair fall out.
Yet she still smiles. She still reaches for her sisters. She still picks up rocks whenever she can. Now comes the next critical step: radiation therapy.
Radiation is essential to prevent this cancer from returning.
In Australia, the standard treatment is photon radiation. But because Goldie’s tumour is in her pelvis & spine, photon radiation would pass entirely through her body; exposing her developing organs to high levels of radiation.
This could permanently affect:
• Her bone growth in her spine, pelvis & lower limbs
• Her bowel & bladder function
• Her fertility
• Her hormonal development & her ability to go through puberty
• Her long-term quality of life
• High risk of secondary cancers later in life
There is another option.
Proton therapy is a more advanced form of radiation that can stop at the tumour site, dramatically reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.
For a toddler like Goldie — whose body is still developing — this difference is not small. It could mean the difference between lifelong disability & a more normal future. As parents already caring for her sister suffering from cerebral palsy, we understand deeply what those lifelong impacts mean — not just medically, but emotionally, financially, & practically. If there is a way to prevent avoidable damage to Goldie’s body, we must take it.
After specialist review, proton therapy has been confirmed as the more favourable treatment for Goldie to avoid these permanent complications. But it is not available in Australia.
To access proton therapy, Goldie must travel overseas & we don’t have months to plan this. Radiation must begin within the next 3–4 weeks.
That means we urgently need to organise international medical coordination, flights, accommodation, & treatment logistics — all while she continues chemotherapy & we care for her two sisters.
Time is critical & every day matters.
Funds raised will go toward:
• Overseas proton therapy treatment
• Urgent international travel for Goldie & her parents
• Extended accommodation near the treatment centre
• Medical insurance & care coordination
• Support for her sisters during prolonged separation
• Ongoing specialist consultations
This is not just about survival. It is about protecting her future before it is permanently shaped by the wrong type of radiation. It is about giving our Golden Bean the chance to grow, to walk freely, to live without preventable lifelong damage.
Be it $1 or $1000. If you can donate, we are deeply grateful no matter the amount.
If you cannot donate, it would still mean the world to us if you could please share her story.
The emotional, physical, & financial toll of rare childhood cancer is something you can never fully prepare for. Our lives now revolve around hospital admissions, appointments, & caring for three young children while navigating decisions that carry lifelong consequences. The more people who see Goldies story in the next few weeks, the closer we get to giving her the safest treatment possible. We have 3–4 weeks to change the course of her life.
Please help us protect her future.
