Mercy dash from the Solomon Islands gives Ronny his life back

He has been unable to go to school for six years or play soccer with his friends but now a 16-year-old from the remote Solomon Islands has been gifted a new life after the removal of a huge nasal tumour by RPA surgeons.

Ronny has spent most of his teenage years in bed, unable to eat or breathe properly due to a rare tumour that left the 16-year-old the size of a primary school child.

His family is from a rural village in the Solomon Islands, where they live entirely off the land, which meant Ronny just became sicker and lonelier.

He hasn’t attended school for six years, at first embarrassed by the nose bleeds caused by his tumour and then too tired from the tumour’s effects on his body.

He was eventually hospitalised in Honiara midway through last year but there was little treatment available.

Until, almost 3000km away, Dr Raewyn Campbell, an ear nose and throat surgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, heard about the teenager.

Ronny, who is 16-years-old from the Solomon Islands with the surgeon who removed his tumour, Professor Raewyn Campbell. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“The team reached out to see if there was anything we could do,” she said.

“It was heartbreaking to see such a young, otherwise healthy child so unwell, so unmanaged. If it were Australia it would have been diagnosed and managed much earlier.”

With the help of 2GB radio host Ray Hadley, plans were quickly set in motion to fly Ronny and his aunty Jisilla Naku to Sydney free of charge, with the NSW Government to cover the costs of his surgery.

MRI scans of Ronny’s nasal tumour. Picture: Supplied

“No matter where a child comes from, if you can advocate for a child or play a small role in making sure he has a good life and a happy life … why wouldn’t you?” Mr Hadley said.

Ronny boarded the plane to Sydney in mid-January. It was his first trip on a plane and his first time away from his mum.

“For any child that’s a really big thing, but then you factor in this big surgery, and you can see why Ronny was just terrified,” Dr Campbell said.

During his first night in hospital, Dr Campbell sat with a distraught Ronny, holding his hand until he stopped crying and finally fell asleep.

“He is such a beautiful person, he is the sweetest person,” Dr Campbell said.

“You just can’t imagine how scared he was and, as a mother myself, I just wanted to be there for him.”

Ronny in hospital at the RPA with his aunt, Jisilla. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ronny’s first surgery took place last week, with Dr Campbell working for 14 hours with anaesthetist Dr Anand Rajan and ENT surgeon Dr Hubert Low, to remove more than 95 per cent of the tumour. On Wednesday, he underwent a second surgery with Dr Martin Mcgee-Collett, who removed the final part of the tumour from Ronny’s brain.

The Sunday Telegraph was able to visit Ronny and his aunt Jisilla at RPA’s intensive care unit this week, where they said they were “so happy, and so grateful” to the doctors and state government.

Jisilla, who is training to be a nurse, said while it had been a scary time for her family – in particular Ronny and his mum – they were looking forward to his “new life”.

“It has been really hard for him, but we are all really thankful,” she said.

“Every day they have made us feel so safe, all the nurses and doctors have taken good care of him. He is ready for school, ready to play soccer. He just wants very badly to be healthy again.”

Knitted soft toys, colour books and pencils litter Ronny’s bed, given to him by hospital staff.

“Not only do they do their magic in terms of the surgery but, importantly for me, they do it in such a caring way and a way that demonstrates a real sense of spirit,” Health Minister Ryan Park told The Sunday Telegraph.

“I hope that Ronnie felt every bit of love from the NSW Health team, because I know they were absolutely over the moon to have an opportunity to give this boy a life that perhaps he simply wouldn’t have had without them.”

When he is well enough to return home, Ronny will be able to live a completely normal life, Dr Campbell said.

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