Six-year-old Bianca and her family open up about life with childhood cancer
Kids with Cancer Foundation
Kids with Cancer Foundation is shining a light on what childhood cancer really does to family life, with Bianca and her mum, Mel, sharing their story to give a voice to families like theirs. Watch the video here
For Australian families facing childhood cancer, a diagnosis can mean a parent stepping away from work, mounting household bills, the child and their siblings missing out on normal routines, and — for families outside major treatment centres — packing up and leaving home for months, a year or more at a time, with no notice and no way to plan ahead.
Over 1,200 Australian children are diagnosed with cancer each year, with around 5,600 undergoing treatment at any one time.
Overnight, everything changed for 6-year-old Bianca and her family
For six-year-old Bianca from Darwin, what her parents thought was a broken arm turned out to be leukaemia. Within 24 hours of diagnosis, Bianca and her family were on a plane to Sydney so Bianca could begin treatment at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.
There was no time to prepare. Bianca and her mum, Mel, spent more than a year living away from home. After the initial commencement of treatment, Bianca’s dad, Terry, had to return to Darwin to keep working and cover the mounting bills. Their family was split in two, with Bianca's little brother shuttling between Sydney and Darwin — his world rocked and childhood disrupted too.
Bianca’s life switched from normal childhood activities - school, sport and birthday parties - to chemotherapy schedules and long days in clinic, far from the support of family, friends and familiar surroundings.
Even so, Bianca's personality kept shining through. She made nurses laugh, made paper doll chains with friends, and found small pockets of joy in colouring in, Lego, and the little comforts tucked inside the Care Packs she received from Kids with Cancer Foundation during treatment.
“When I was in hospital, my favourite thing in the Care Packs was the Lego,” said Bianca.
“The boxes just kept coming, the food kept us going and the Lego took her mind off things,” says Mel. “Kids with Cancer Foundation has helped us financially as well,” added Mel. “They paid our car rego, just taking that financial burden off helped us so much.”
“Just knowing that there’s something, someone there that can help and care, it relieves some of that heaviness that you feel. And every little bit of heaviness lifted is a light towards your kid,” said Mel.
Bianca and her family are now back home in Darwin — but their story captures something many Australians don't see when they think about childhood cancer: it’s so much more than a medical event. It's a complete upheaval of family life, often for a year or more.
A story shared by thousands of families
More than 1,200 Australian children are diagnosed with cancer each year, and around 5,600 are undergoing treatment at any one time. Each of these children and families is on their own childhood cancer journey, but many share experiences similar to Bianca's.
Todd Prees, CEO of national charity Kids with Cancer Foundation, said the practical and financial pressures have a huge impact on families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis.
"When a child has cancer, the treatment is only one part of what a family has to deal with," he said.
“Parents may have to stop or reduce work, families may have to suddenly relocate or travel long distances for treatment, and everyday expenses like groceries and household bills continue – and often mount with added travel, accommodation and medical expenses,” explained Mr Prees. “We want to help take some of that pressure away.”
“Whether it’s Family Financial Assistance, a Care Pack for a child spending another long day in hospital, or funding the specialist clinicians and services supporting them, these things truly help to make today easier for kids with cancer and their families,” explained Mr Prees.
Small comforts, practical support
It's against this backdrop that Kids with Cancer Foundation's five support programs are designed to work —providing practical help to families like Bianca’s during a childhood cancer journey.
In FY26, the national charity committed more than $4.23 million across its programs supporting children with cancer, their families and the hospitals and clinicians caring for them. This included:
- $3.5 million in hospital, clinician and research funding
- $663,571 in family financial assistance
- Support for 415 individual families
- 5,596 Care Packs supplied to children nationally
- $172,100 to fund 56 wigs through Wigs4Kids™
Support where families need it, across Australia
Kids with Cancer Foundation supports major children's hospitals and paediatric cancer services nationally, including The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Children's Hospital Randwick, Bear Cottage in Sydney, John Hunter Children's Hospital in Newcastle, Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, the Women's and Children's Hospital Adelaide, Perth Children's Hospital and Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane.
Newcastle & the Hunter: Kids with Cancer Foundation to reach $2 million support milestone at John Hunter Children’s Hospital
Kids with Cancer Foundation has supported childhood cancer care at John Hunter Children's Hospital since 2000, contributing $1,906,983 over 26 years - funding specialist clinical and support positions, including oncology and nursing roles. Kids with Cancer Foundation also funds John Hunter's Cooking Therapy Program, supporting food and baking supplies since 2023 so young patients can cook, create and enjoy small moments of normality. Alongside hospital support, the Foundation provides weekly Care Packs to children undergoing cancer treatment at John Hunter, financial support to impacted families in Newcastle and the Hunter, and Wigs4Kids™.
Melbourne & Victoria: $1 million commitment to The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, investing in the future of childhood cancer care
Kids with Cancer Foundation is strengthening its support for childhood cancer care in Victoria through a $1 million commitment to The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, helping advance treatment and give young patients access to high-quality paediatric cancer care.
Support for Victorian families is also about the moments in between treatment. This September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Kids with Cancer Foundation team joined patients, families and clinicians on the Kookaburra Cancer Care Ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne for a morning tea — a chance for connection on what can be incredibly difficult days.
This new commitment to The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne furthers Kids with Cancer Foundation’s impact in Victoria, which also saw the foundation provide $30,000 in new funding to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. This national charity has supported Monash Children's Hospital for over 21 years - providing over $4 million in lifetime funding since 2004, as well as direct family support through Care Packs, Family Financial Assistance and Wigs4Kids™.
Queensland: Kids with Cancer Foundation’s funding to Queensland Children's Hospital surpasses $800,000 since 2001, supporting QLD families - like one regional family forced to relocate to Brisbane overnight
For Queensland families, a childhood cancer diagnosis can mean suddenly leaving home, work and support networks behind to access specialist treatment in Brisbane. Kids with Cancer Foundation has been a supporting partner of Queensland Children's Hospital since 2001, providing more than $800,000 in funding over that time. The Foundation currently funds two welfare positions at the hospital, providing practical support and advocacy for families navigating childhood cancer — support that can be especially important for families arriving from regional and remote communities, helping them navigate accommodation, travel and living costs while connecting them with practical assistance during treatment.
That support recently helped a regional family who had to suddenly relocate to Brisbane following their 14-year-old's cancer diagnosis. With significant accommodation, travel and living costs, and one parent needing to remain at home to keep working, the welfare team helped secure practical support that ultimately made it possible for the family to spend more time together during treatment — an example of how support beyond the hospital bed can help make an extraordinarily difficult time a little easier for the whole family.
Western Australia: Kids with Cancer Foundation's $450,000 pledge helps bring world-first research & new treatments closer to home
In Western Australia, Kids with Cancer Foundation is supporting the future of childhood cancer treatment through its partnership with Perth Children's Hospital Foundation, pledging $450,000 over three years in 2024 to support childhood cancer care and research. This includes support for world-first immunotherapy research at Perth Children's Hospital, led by Professor Nick Gottardo and his team, exploring safer, more targeted treatments for children with brain cancer and acute leukaemia — research aimed at improving outcomes for children with difficult-to-treat cancers while reducing the serious, lifelong side effects that can follow intensive treatment. For Western Australian families, advancing research and clinical trials locally means more children can access innovative treatment closer to home — sparing families some of the additional relocation and financial pressure that comes with travelling interstate for specialised care.
How you can help
"Behind every statistic is a child and a family whose lives can change in an instant, like Bianca's did. We want to turn awareness into action to help make today easier for kids with cancer and their families," said Todd Prees, CEO of Kids with Cancer Foundation.
A donation of just $20 provides a Care Pack that goes directly into the hands of a child undergoing cancer treatment.
Turn a hair cut into a fundraising initiative with Wigs4Kids
Register to hold a fundraiser of any type
Or volunteer to get involved.