The difference Ash deserves

How welcome distractions brought happiness and joy to his hospital experience

The first signs of being unwell

Four-year-old Ash was on a family holiday in Tasmania when he started showing signs of being unwell. For the next month, fevers, severe fatigue and weight loss followed. In January 2022, Ash was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

“It was like I had an outer body experience. The overwhelming grief that shot through my body.”
– Nataasha, Ash’s mum

From that moment, life became a blur. Since his diagnosis, Ash has undergone many lumbar punctures, blood and platelet transfusions and oral and IV chemotherapy treatments at Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Finding moments of joy and happiness

Despite the challenges of treatment, Ash still found moments of joy and happiness. His daily resilience has amazed his parents, Nataasha and Adam. Slowly, Ash has started to associate his visits to hospital with something that is fun. He looks forward to playing at Kidzone and jumps at the chance to grab a Nintendo through the Children’s Hospital Foundation’s toy loan service.

The final stages of treatment

Ash is now in the third and final stage of his chemotherapy treatment. He needs daily chemotherapy treatment at home and a lumbar puncture, IV chemotherapy and steroids at Queensland Children’s Hospital every three months.

There is hope on the horizon for kids like Ash. Thanks to funding from the Children’s Hospital Foundation, Dr Hana Starobova from the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience’s research is looking into how to minimise the painful side effects of chemotherapy. With less debilitating side effects, kids like Ash can have a better quality of life – and spend more time at school, at home and in the world.

Ash has now started kindergarten a few days a week. He loves playing with other children and gets excited to attend. His current stage of treatment is expected to be finished in April 2024.