💛 A MOMENT OF CLARITY. A REASON TO KEEP FIGHTING. 💛

This week, I had a moment of clarity. One that hit me harder than I expected.

It's been a difficult week in our household. Evelyn has been experiencing a number of concerning symptoms. Bowel issues, enlarged lymph nodes, weight concerns, visible changes to her scoliosis, and pain in her neck and legs.

Individually, there could be perfectly reasonable explanations for each of them. But when you've watched your child fight cancer, you don't have the luxury of simply dismissing these things. Every symptom becomes a question. Every change becomes something to watch. And suddenly, without warning, you're transported back to some of the darkest moments of your life.

This week has taken a profound toll on my mental health. It's brought back fears, memories and emotions I thought I'd learned to live alongside. And somewhere amongst all that fear, something became incredibly clear to me.

For two years now, I've been advocating to bring proton beam therapy to Australia. And for almost a year, this petition has been at the heart of that fight.

I've said countless times, through this petition, in the media and in meetings with politicians, that I keep fighting because I never want another family to hear the words: "The treatment you need exists. Just not in Australia."

I've always said that Evelyn doesn't need proton therapy anymore. She's had her treatment. We made that journey across the world. We survived it.

And I fight so that another family doesn't have to.

But this week I realised something I hadn't fully allowed myself to acknowledge. 

I'm also fighting for Evelyn.

Because as much as I wish it weren't true, there is still a possibility that her cancer could return. And if that day ever came, what if proton therapy was something she needed again? I don't know if I could do that journey overseas a second time. I don't know if I have it in me to pack up our lives, leave my husband and son behind, and take my daughter halfway around the world again, carrying all that fear and uncertainty.

But I also know that if Evelyn needed it, I would have no choice. Because how could I ever look at my daughter and say I hadn't done everything possible to give her the treatment she needed?

And that is when it hit me.

This fight has never just been about the next family. It's about my family too.

It's about every parent who has already endured more than they thought humanly possible, only to face the prospect of doing it all again. It's about making sure that when someone in Australia needs proton therapy, their biggest concern is getting well. Not passports, flights, accommodation, separation from loved ones or travelling to the other side of the world for treatment.

Life has a strange way of reminding us why we started something.

This week has been incredibly hard. But amongst the fear, it's given me renewed determination. New ideas are forming. New conversations need to happen. And I'm not finished yet.

I will not rest until I know I have done everything within my power to get proton beam therapy across the line in Australia.

For the next family.

For the next patient.

And yes, for Evelyn, should she ever need it again.

💛 Australia needs proton therapy. And I am not giving up.

Please keep signing, sharing and helping us make enough noise that those with the power to make this happen can no longer ignore it.

Because none of us knows when it might be our family that needs it.