Gold Coast Community Fund Supports Snow Family

LITTLE Audrey Snow has had a tough start in life.Now Audrey, 3, was diagnosed last year with a rare form of eye cancer only months after receiving an autism diagnosis.

Gold Coast Community Fund assisted three-year-old Audrey Snow who has both autism and cancer pictured with her mother Claudine Snow at their Arundel home. Picture: Mike Batterham

LITTLE Audrey Snow has had a tough start in life.

Now three years old, Audrey was ­diagnosed in January last year with a rare form of eye cancer only months after receiving an autism diagnosis.

Mum Claudine said she noticed early on that something wasn’t right with Audrey.

“She was always very anxious and they told us she had autism,” Ms Snow said.

“She started showing other symptoms but they put it all down to the autism so it made her cancer diagnosis very difficult.

“Audrey didn’t want to be examined, she kept closing her eyes and we were almost discharged.

“Eventually they told us she had ­retinoblastoma.”

Within a week of her cancer ­diagnosis, Audrey had an operation to remove her eye.

“At this point I had been suffering from chronic back pain for 10 years and when she started going through chemotherapy I couldn’t even walk,” Ms Snow said.

“I felt useless for Audrey.”

The Arundel mum said it wasn’t until the Gold Coast Community Fund stepped in that she felt her family’s heads were above water.

“Audrey’s godmother contacted the Gold Coast Community Fund on our behalf and it was a very quick and easy process,” Ms Snow said.

“They had a lot of dignity and respect and were behind us 100 per cent.”

With a long commute to medical ­appointments and high medical expenses, Ms Snow said her family were struggling to put food on the table.

“We couldn’t afford groceries, and after travelling back and forth between Brisbane we needed new tyres,” she said. “We don’t have a family support network emotionally or financially so that’s where (appeals co-ordinator) Adam Moses and the fund really stepped in.

“When I met Adam, he made me laugh for the first time in as long as I could remember.”

Ms Snow said Audrey is still a few years away from remission.

“She has regular MRIs and lots of appointments for her prosthetic eye,” Ms Snow said. “Her little sister Yvonne, who is now two, is also being checked for cancer in case it’s genetic. The girls are best friends. Yvonne really helps Audrey come out of her shell.”

Mr Moses said the not-for-profit desperately required funds to continue providing support for locals like the Snow family.

“We’re not a household name so we aren’t on the top of people’s mind but we can’t function without funds and support from the community,” Mr Moses said.

You can donate to the Gold Coast Community Fund at www.gccommunityfund.org