Flying High On Little Wings

Last night, my family and I found ourselves experiencing something a little bit different. We were invited guests of the Mayor of Bankstown at the Bankstown Mayoral Charity dinner. The charity of choice, was a not for profit organisation very close to our hearts, Little Wings. We found ourselves enjoying good food and some interesting entertainment. A duo of flaming violin players who would be well placed in a circus act, a speed painter of indisiputable skill, several young Bankstown locals displaying their raw talent whilst singing several Rock 'n' Roll hits between them.

Prior to a highly successful auction and a fabulous raffle of a brand new Hyundai i30, all of which raised a wonderful total (at last count) of $115,000, I found myself in a nerve wracking role of public speaker. A role far different from wife, mother and author. I prepared a speech, which had me fairly choked up, however when standing before the 400 odd assembled guests (all with generously deep pockets) I found myself speaking more from the heart, only refering to the following as a guide or prompt.

"When we were first asked to speak for Little Wings, our initial reaction was; 'no! No! No!' We are very private people, living on 500acres, 20 kms from Narromine. If we don't want to see or speak to anyone, we don't have to. But then we got to thinking. How can we say 'no' to Little Wings? Have they ever said no to us? Quite simply, no they haven't.

When we were first introduced to Little Wings in May last year, it was because our darling daughter had been diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. She was eighteen months old at the time. It is a heart wrenching experience to be told your child is sick, and a life changing one when you are told it is cancer. We were faced with a difficult decision, separation for length of Molly's treatment, or to figure out a way to travel to Sydney with an unreliable vehicle and limited access to funds. But that decision was taken out of the equation because of the dedicated work of a few amazing people who came together with one goal; 'helping children with cancer and their families stay together.' Ronald McDonald House provide a safe place for families to stay at the hospital, but Little Wings get us home after treatment.

For the first month after Molly's diagnosis, John was home alone on the farm, keeping things going and making sure we had a home to go back to, whilst Molly and I stayed safe with the wonderful people at RMH, having regular blood tests, check ups and chemotherapy. I think I had it the easiest, in that I was with Molly, I knew what was happening there and then. I knew where we were and what we were doing. John was on his own, on the farm, and constantly in a state of stress never knowing what was going on, asking himself; 'has Molly been sick?' 'Has she spiked a temperature?' 'How's Rachel handling everything?'

Molly constantly asked where daddy was, confused that for the first time in her life he wasn't around. So when we were told we could come home, it was with much excitement that we packed up our few belongings, and waited for that first pick up from RMH to take us to the airport and pop us safely on a plane to send us home, at no cost to us. The tears that were shared by us all when we were all finally holding each other again could have filled a swimming pool.

There was one constant factor that we were sure about whilst we travelled our roller coaster cancer journey. Every time we needed to be back in Sydney, all we had to do was get to Narromine airport, and there would be that wonderful shinning aircraft, gracing the runway, waiting for us. John could wave us off, knowing that we would safely arrive in Sydney in a fraction of the time it would take by road or public transport, and that we would be back again in four days time.

Every single person that donned that Little Wings uniform has treated us with a consistent courtesy and friendliness. When I needed a shoulder to cry on, they listened. When I wanted to shout with joy at how well Molly's treatment was going, they celebrated with us. And when Molly finished Chemotherapy, they were just as over the moon as we were. Everyone of the pilots and drivers became a member of our family, and we became members of the Little Wings family.

Because of the amazing work that Little Wings does, our family stayed together, and even grew. And of course, our friends at Little Wings were just as happy at the birth of our second daughter as we were. Because at the end of the day, she shows that Little Wings have succeeded in their ethos at keeping families together."