Kids battling a rare and deadly cancer have today been gifted a fighting chance after the federal government announced it would fund early access to a lifesaving drug in Australia.
Neuroblastoma claims the lives of more kids under five than any other cancer.
There is a one in two chance kids who receive cancer treatment will relapse, and if they do, their chances of survival plummet to just five per cent.
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In the past, kids with neuroblastoma have been forced to fly to America several times to access a miracle drug called DFMO.
We heard from families such as the Richardsons, who faced the prospect of spending more than half a million dollars just to keep their little ones alive.
“It just seems like insanity,” Tyler Richardson told A Current Affair.
“We’re flying over there to pick up some tablets and bring them home, five or six times in two years with a kid that’s this sick and what that trip could do to him … makes zero sense to us.”
Today, after a mammoth campaign led by neuroblastoma chief executive Lucy Jones, Health Minister Mark Butler announced children will receive DFMO for free in Australian hospitals.
“This is a really important day for Australian families who are grappling with neuroblastoma,” Butler said.
“Our government was not willing in good conscience to stand by and not give these kids every chance of survival.”
Jones, who lost her own daughter to neuroblastoma 14 years ago, said she couldn’t stop smiling at the news.
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“I know what families live through, I know the risk of relapse having lost my own daughter when she relapsed, so you want to avoid relapse at all costs,” she said.
“It’s just so important that these families get the recognition they deserve with everything they have to go through and that their children get the treatment they deserve.”
Richardson said the decision would be “absolutely game-changing” for his son Harris.
“It was a big moment for us. It’s nice to see a win,” Richardson said.
“You don’t always kick goals so to get a goal like this is just huge.”
The two-year-old Hobart boy is still in a Melbourne hospital.
But when his treatment is done, he can head home to a new life and a much brighter future.
“We want to say a massive thank you,” Richardson said.
“Not only to the health minister, but everyone that was raising this issue and getting across his desk and helping push this thing through.
“The lives it will save and the families that will have their lives change forever.”