The family of six-year-old Tessa has thanked the Noosa and Sunshine Coast community for continuing to raise urgent funds to help her.
So far, more than $110,00 has been raised in 815-day battle with high-risk Stage 4 neuroblastoma, one of the most aggressive childhood cancers.
This week, Tessa underwent a DOTATATE PET scan as her Sunshine Coast family continues their desperate race against time to raise $750,000 for life-saving cancer treatment overseas.
The scan represents another crucial milestone as her family fights to access CAR T-cell therapy unavailable to Australian children with her condition.
While CAR T-cell therapy exists in Australia for certain adult blood cancers, children with solid tumours like neuroblastoma face a devastating treatment gap.
Despite proposals to develop these treatments locally, families are forced to look overseas at costs exceeding $700,000 – before travel and accommodation expenses.
“Our children don’t have time to wait,” said Tessa’s mother Renee, whose emotional plea during Neuroblastoma Awareness Week has galvanised community support. “They need action. Now.”
Neuroblastoma Australia has quoted $750,000 to access the therapy in Rome, with treatment needed within the next three to six months.
The family has launched the “75,000 to Save Tessa” campaign, requiring just 75,000 people to donate $10 each.
The campaign’s simple mathematics tell a powerful story: if just 0.3% of Australians donated $10, Tessa’s treatment could be funded.
“Not millions of people. Just community,” supporters emphasise.
Diagnosed at four years old, Tessa has endured two bone marrow transplants, countless chemotherapy and radiation rounds, multiple surgeries, and intensive immunotherapy. After completing treatment earlier this year and hoping to return home, a devastating scan revealed the cancer had returned and was spreading.
Neuroblastoma mainly affects children under five, with heartbreakingly low survival rates for those who relapse in Australia. This reality drives families like Tessa’s to explore every option beyond Australian borders.
Fellow Queensland Children’s Hospital parent Maddi, whose son Luca battles leukaemia, has witnessed Renee’s strength firsthand. “Even when she was having a hard time herself, she was always kind and helping others. That’s just who they are,” Maddi said.
The cancer ward creates unique bonds between families facing unthinkable circumstances. “You see parents supporting each other through their darkest days. Renee has always shown up for others, even while fighting for her own child.”
Despite her ordeal, Tessa remains bright, cheeky and creative, with a love for pink, crafting, makeup and changing her look with wigs. Her simple dreams – sleeping in her own bed, splashing in rain, swimming without infection fear, and having a puppy – underscore the childhood stolen by cancer.
When well enough, she enjoys trips to Kmart, Popmart and Miniso, proudly setting up slime stalls to share her creations. Fellow families describe her as “a light in the darkest places,” whose smile and singing can lift entire wards.
“She is extraordinary,” wrote Simone, another childhood cancer parent. “She reminds everyone around her what courage truly looks like.”
Renee’s frustration reflects many families’ experiences: “I am angry. I am heartbroken. Because there is a promising treatment – but it isn’t available in Australia.”
The campaign has gained momentum across social media, with supporters sharing Tessa’s story to reach the ambitious but achievable fundraising target. Every day matters as the family balances making precious memories while pursuing life-saving treatment options.
“We have lost so many of Tessa’s fellow neuroblastoma warriors. Beautiful children. Devastated families. Futures that should never have been taken,” Renee wrote.
Today’s scan results will provide crucial information about Tessa’s condition as the campaign continues building momentum. Supporters emphasise the goal remains simple but urgent: share Tessa’s story, donate if possible, and help give her a chance that geography should not deny.
Donations can be made via GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/f/75000-people-to-save-tessa
