Hermione turned five in a children’s cancer ward.
What should have been a happy day offered little cause to celebrate. No party. Just machines and medicine. Instead of cake and games and friends, there were tubes and tests and a hard day of treatment ahead.
Just days earlier, she was a lively little girl who loved acrobatics, swimming, dressing up and making people laugh.
“Shiny Hermione is her nickname. She just radiates this internal sunshine. She’s sassy and clever and kind and sweet.” her mum Anne says.
But the moment Hermione was diagnosed with leukaemia, that shine was dimmed. Her bright world became a dark and sterile one of needles, pain and fear.
Her high-risk treatment meant long hospital stays, isolation from the outside world, infections, delays, and endless waiting for her little body to recover between rounds of chemotherapy.
And while childhood cancer is faced by one child, it is carried by the whole family.
When Hermione’s family finally arrived at their first Camp Quality Retreat together, it was magical. The kids enjoyed their favourite snacks, watching movies in bed, and time at the kids’ club. Harrison, her younger brother, discovered the joy of a Nerf gun. Hermione ran free along the beach.
At one point, Anne says, Hermione simply ran, laughing, straight into the ocean. After everything she had been through, she was finally free again.
Because of generous supporters like you, children like Hermione can reclaim the fun, freedom and adventure every child should have. Happy memories she will treasure forever.
