Eden Sadra – Year 10

Olyvea Akres – Year 10

Hey Rashi, Eden and Liv here!

At assembly on Tuesday we heard the story of a little boy named Finley Wright-Curno, the youngest son of one of my (Eden) mum’s life-long friends. On 15 March this year he was diagnosed with what is clinically considered as the worst form of childhood brain cancer. It’s called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). It is an incurable form of cancer due to the fact that patients don’t respond to chemotherapy, and radiation therapy only briefly delays the tumour’s progression. As well as this, surgery is impossible due to the tumour’s sensitive location in the brain.

On 15 September, exactly six months after he was diagnosed, Finley passed away at just nine years of age.

When I  heard the news, not only was I deeply saddened but I was so moved when I heard of how his family had responded to such a devastating loss. His parents and two older brothers have called themselves the ‘Fair Warriors’ since that’s the meaning of Finley’s name in Celtic and have taken it upon themselves to help raise money in search for a cure to this deadly disease. They recently finished cycling from Saigon in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia – 300 kilometres in just eight days! They’re raising money specifically for Finley’s doctor – Professor David Ziegler – head of the clinical trials program at the Sydney Children’s Hospital. He’s made some incredible advances into the research for this disease but hasn’t hit the nail on the head yet and found a cure. With enough funding, he, along with other doctors dedicated to finding a cure, will hopefully be able to do so.

As well as a bake sale in Week 5 we highly recommend donating to this incredible cause. An email will be sent out to all the students including the link to the family’s website and fundraising page so check out some more information on the disease and fundraising. Once again we encourage you to support this beautiful family and their efforts in helping find a cure to DIPG.

Quote for this week:

Attract what you expect

Reflect what you desire

Become what you respect

Mirror what you admire          

That’s it from us this week, have a great weekend.

Liv and Eden signing off