Dylan Ilic new face of McHappy Day
WHEN sports-mad Dylan Ilic, 9, was told he was going to lose his arm, he was shocked. But then came an amazing turn of events.
Southern Courier
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LITTLE Dylan Illic loves his footy, cricket and tennis but his sporting dreams were shattered eight months ago when bone cancer threatened to take his arm.
The sports-mad nine-year-old was a happy boy who would often be seen doing somersaults on his bike at the local track, grand-mother Marina Illic says.
“He represented his school in both football and cricket and he loves tennis,” she says.
“And at an open Margaret Court Academy competition we were told he could also be a great tennis player.”
“We were still trying to get our heads around it.”
There was no real sign of the ordeal Dylan was about to face except that he was complaining of a sore arm.
“In February this year he went to push the boot of his pop’s car down and we thought he’d jarred his arm,” Illic says.
“It started to swell and it was very painful.”
The family doctor identified a tumour and the next day this family from Hay in rural NSW was flown to Westmead Hospital for further tests.
“We were still trying to get our heads around it,” Illic says. “We landed Ronald McDonald House Westmead on February 15, the day after Valentine’s Day, and started the tests at the hospital the next day.
“The doctor told him: ‘To save your life we have to amputate your arm’.”
“A few days later they sat us down and told us it was bone cancer (osteosarcoma).”
Dylan started chemotherapy but the fact doctors believed his arm would need to be amputated to stop the spread of this very aggressive form of cancer was kept from him.
“He wasn’t told about the amputation because the doctors didn’t think he could cope at that stage,” Illic says.
The operation to amputate his arm was locked in for May 26 and a few days before the family visited a prosthetics specialist.
“The doctor told him: ‘To save your life we have to amputate your arm’,” Illic says.
“We were told not to tell him so we were all in shock. Dylan just sat there too stunned to say anything.”
Dylan underwent his operation as planned but his surgeon, who had taken Dylan’s medical file to a cancer conference in Japan, was able to save his arm.
“We could not believe it,” Illic says of the amazing turn of events.
Dylan is still undergoing chemotherapy and is hoping to be home in Hay for Christmas and for his 10th birthday on Boxing Day.
And the cherry on top of all this good news, after such a terrible time, was he will still be able to play tennis, with his left arm in a swing.
Ronald McDonald House at Westmead has been a home away from home for the Illic family for the past eight months and Dylan is now one of the faces of Ronald McDonald House Charities’ biggest fundraiser, McHappy Day.
Dylan and his big sister Courtney’s drawing of their family, including their cat, is one of six designs featuring messages and drawings from children staying at Ronald McDonald Houses that appear on the packaging of Big Mac burgers sold nationwide ahead of McHappy Day on October 14.
You can also listen to a video message from some of the 106,000 families who have stayed at Ronald McDonald Houses while their seriously ill or injured children were treated at a nearby hospital
Barbara Ryan, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Australia, says “Since first opening our doors in 1981, we have accommodated more than 106,000 families. The special boxes are the perfect way to bring Aussies face to face with the families they help. We hope to increase awareness of how every donation goes a long way to keep families close together in their toughest times.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
● The new-look Big Mac boxes will be available now, with $2 from every Big Mac sold on McHappy Day going directly to RMHC.
● Now in its 26th year, McHappy Day helps raise vital funds for RMHC helping to provide a home away from home for families of seriously ill or injured children being treated at a nearby hospital. McHappy Day, RMHC’s largest annual fundraiser, has raised more than $40 million.
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