Juvenile idiopathic arthritis sufferer Harry Dannock unable to receive treatment in Tasmania
13-year-old Harry puts on a brave face, but he is constantly in a world of pain battling a chronic childhood disease that can only be treated interstate.
Tasmania
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Despite being a “tough” and “healthy kid”, Hobart mother Julia Dannock knew something was wrong with her then nine-year-old son Harry when his handwriting suddenly turned messy.
The search for a cause continued for a year until Harry was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
JIA is one of the most common chronic childhood diseases, affecting between 6000-10,000 children in Australia, and involves the body’s immune system attacking various areas of the body, including joints and the eyes.
Ms Dannock said Harry puts on a brave face like many other JIA sufferers.
“You don’t know from one day to the next how he’ll be,” she said.
“He’s always in pain, but sometimes he won’t be able to get out of bed.”
While Harry, now 13, has been learning to live with the disease, the lack of medical specialists to deal with the disease in Tasmania means the family have to frequently travel to Melbourne for treatment and ongoing care, meaning huge expenses and time away from school.
“We travel to Melbourne every three months at the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital, where we meet with a paediatric rheumatology team, a chronic pain team, an eye surgeon,” Ms Dannock said.
“These are all specialists we don’t have in Tasmania and we are the only state to not have a paediatric rheumatologist.”
Ms Dannock said she hopes funding for a Tasmania specialist team could become available, with the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation Australia (JAFA) estimating the cost to the government at $480,000 per year.
However, she said people shouldn’t underestimate the strength of children living with JIA.
“They all have such a tough exterior and just soldier on with the day-to-day,” Ms Dannock said.
“Harry does his best everyday, goes to karate when he can, and is a normal kid mostly, it would just be that much better if he could be treated closer to home.”
Originally published as Juvenile idiopathic arthritis sufferer Harry Dannock unable to receive treatment in Tasmania
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