Margot Robbie’s miracle mate: How a cuddle from real-life Barbie boosted Lucy’s cancer battle

A day after her mum noticed a lump on her ribs, little Lucy was diagnosed with bone cancer. Months of chemo were brightened by a chance meeting with Barbie star Margot Robbie. This week, Lucy started kindy.

Little Lucy Galvin had her first day of kindergarten this week – a day her family feared may never come.

Two years ago, Pyrmont mum Sarah was putting a three-year-old Lucy to bed when she noticed a lump on her ribcage.

Next morning, they were at the GP. By 10am they were on the way to Sydney Children’s Hospital, where they would receive a devastating cancer diagnosis.

Lucy had Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive type of childhood bone cancer.

It was the moment that changed them forever – and despite Lucy, now five, being well after years of treatment, countless rounds of chemo, infections and seizures and having to be on 24/7 oxygen for five months straight – mum Sarah says the fight isn’t over. She and husband Pat are just lucky their Lucy is a fighter.

In 2022, Lucy's mum Sarah noticed a lump on her ribcage. The next day she was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. Picture: Supplied

Little Lucy Galvin endured months of chemo. Picture: Supplied

“You go into the survival mode, where you just do it,” the mother of three told The Sunday Telegraph.

“We fell in a heap for the first few days, but honestly, after that first week, once we got our diagnosis, and we had our treatment plan, you just look to your next appointment and the next appointment.

Lucy Galvin endured months of chemo and got to meet Margot Robbie in hospital. She finished treatment in September and is now doing well. Pictures supplied

“You have one day away from hospital where you have a picnic or ride bikes, take family photos before she lost her hair – we just got on with it.

“But as you get closer to the end of the treatment, I felt the anxiety is so much worse – because you know chemo is ending and that’s what’s kept her cancer away.

“The anxiety got worse and worse towards the end, to the point where we didn’t want to end chemo.

“I would rather do it every day, forever, if it was going to keep her safe.

Lucy, tuckered out from treatment. Picture: Supplied

Lucy finished treatment in September. Picture: Supplied

“Just because treatment has ended, it doesn’t mean the story’s over.”

They call it ‘scanxiety’ – where you know there’s a scan coming up or you’ve had a scan, and you’re waiting for results – and the Galvins are in a constant state of it.

“All cancer patients and cancer parents are in the same cycle of this constant fear, of when’s it’s all going to turn to shit, to be polite,” she explained.

MOVING CHEMO FOR MARGOT

Lucy was in the middle of chemo last year when she got to meet Margot Robbie, who visited Sydney Children’s Hospital ahead of her Barbie press tour.

It was a happy coincidence Lucy was there that day, and another that both blondes were wearing pink.

A hug from Barbie herself was just enough to brighten Lucy’s day.

“Margot was very lovely – she was like just a normal Aussie chick – she was very cool, beautiful of course, and just really kind – she gave Lucy a little hug,” Sarah continued.

“It was before the movie came out, and it was quite a coincidence that we were even there because when the stars come to the Starlight Room you don’t know they’re there.

“You don’t get told ‘hey, Margot Robbie’s coming in today’. No one knows, not even the nurses know.

Lucy endured months of chemo. Picture: Supplied

Lucy finished treatment last September. Picture: Supplied

“We happened to walk into the hospital that day and one of the other patient’s parents said to me, ‘Hey, Margot Robbie is upstairs’ – and I was like ‘oh no, we’re already late for chemo’.

“The dad was like, ‘forget chemo, go to the Starlight Room’ – so we did – and it was worth being late for chemo,” she laughed.

SWAPPING CHEMO FOR KINDY

Lucy got to ring the “end of treatment bell” in September and had her first day of kindergarten on Monday, cheered on by big sister Grace, 7, and three-year-old little brother Billy. And in true Lucy style, she’s determined to do full days like everyone else, laughed Sarah, despite having missed out on childcare and preschool because of her illness.

“She’s very excited about school – she was up early, getting dressed – she was only supposed to do half days this week, but she was absolutely adamant to do full days, so we will monitor to see if she gets too tired,” she said.

“Because she missed preschool, she missed daycare – she missed all of that.

“So she’s not used to being at school each day.”

Her advice to parents is to be vigilant. Don’t assume something is nothing – do your research about common symptoms of different cancers, be up to scratch for symptoms and act quickly.

“Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive, tougher, nasty cancer … they hide in the body, even though they can look like they’ve been cured, the cells are so microscopic that they can hibernate in the body, or they can sometimes be in there and not be detected by typical PET scans because they’re so tiny and they can just be waiting there to, whoosh, rush, take off again, whenever they feel like it, basically,” she said.

“When I saw the ribs I had a really bad feeling.

“Most people said they wouldn’t even take their kid to the doctor for a few weeks or a month to see if it goes away on its own – but I was there the next morning.

“I just know if you find a lump in your skin and it doesn’t move, that’s the bad one. This was not moving, it was rock hard.”

Lucy has now been off chemo for four months. As well as starting school, she can play sport now. She’s learning how to do handstands, she’s learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and she’s learned how to swim.

“She is like nobody you’ve ever met – she’s such a fighter,” said Sarah, who last year took part in 86k For A Cure, which encourages people to walk or run 86k to raise vital funds for Children’s Cancer Institute Australia. But Sarah did it while pushing 100kg as well.

“I had Lucy in the stroller, her oxygen tank and the two other kids – I did almost 100km in the end and raised $86,000 exactly, which was fitting,” she laughed.

Incredibly, she’s up for the challenge again, and implored the public to help raise money and awareness for kids like Lucy.

To help, go to ccia.org.au