Gladstone father Paul Connon’s anguish following heartbreaking Leukaemia diagnosis

Less than 24 hours after the birth of his son Paul Connon was airlifted from Gladstone to Brisbane hospital in a desperate fight for life.

Just 24 hours after the birth of his third child, Paul Connon was diagnosed with a rare strain of Leukaemia.

Little did Paul Connon know when he turned 36 his whole world would change in a matter of days.

On July 21, Paul’s birthday was overshadowed by the eager expectation of his baby who was born the next day, his beautiful son Dominic.

But within just 24 hours his life would be turned upside down. Paul had not even had a chance to be in a newborn photo with his son when he was diagnosed with a rare strain of Leukaemia. He was urgently airlifted from Gladstone to the Royal Brisbane Hospital for treatment.

Just 24 hours after the birth of his third child, Paul Connon was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia (APML).

Paul and his wife Andi and their two young children moved to Gladstone in February, looking for a fresh start after their family moved to the area from Ballina.

They had just bought a home and were growing their young family while Paul planned to start his business.

Despite having symptoms such as fatigue, soreness and bruising, Paul put his exhaustion down to the expectation of his third child who was 10 days overdue at the time of his birth.

The day after wife Andi gave birth to their son, Paul suspected something else was wrong.

Paul Connon and his family

Rhiannon Connon, Paul’s sister-in-law, said if Paul didn’t have a previous condition, he would never have thought anything of the symptoms.

“Paul has recurrent pericarditis, and so on the Sunday (July 23), the day after Andi gave birth to their son, he woke up and just said that he felt ‘off’.

“An ambulance was called, and they weren’t concerned until one of the paramedics noticed he had some bad bruising, which is a symptom of leukaemia,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“He was taken to Gladstone Hospital around nine or 10 in the morning, and by 2pm he was in Brisbane.”

While Paul was awaiting care in Gladstone, Andi and Dominic were still in hospital.

“Andi managed to get to the room where Paul was staying and say goodbye to him before he was taken to Brisbane.

“There’s not even a photo of them as a family of five... if anything happens to him, that’s just something they’ll never have.”

Andi and Paul have been together for 20 years, and married for 16.

“This is supposed to be a time of joy, with this new little life in their family,” she said.

Ms Connon and her husband Richard, Paul’s brother, reached out to the Gladstone community through a GoFundMe to help Andi and her three children while Paul undergoes treatment.

Just 24 hours after the birth of his third child, Paul Connon was diagnosed with a rare strain of Leukaemia.

“We just didn’t want them to have to stress about their mortgage, or groceries. Paul has always provided for his family and I know that he would hate for them to be struggling.”

Paul is expected to remain in Brisbane for the next month undergoing treatment.

“Even though APML has a high recovery and remission rate, he’s going to need to go back to Brisbane every 2 weeks for additional treatments.”

“We don’t know how many months he will need to do this for yet, but it could be a while.”