Three-year-old Adelaide girl’s cancer battle means Tuckerman family never takes Christmas for granted

This Adelaide family doesn’t know how many more Christmas they’ll get together, making this year’s milestone all the more precious.

Adorable little dancing, fairy-loving Evelyn Tuckerman is counting down the days until her first-ever Christmas at home and her family is intent on cherishing every festive moment of it.

The “sassy” three-year-old was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer that affects bones and soft tissue, aged just seven months.

The devastating diagnosis was given just days after the family – mum Billie, dad Will and doting big brother Edward – returned from visiting family interstate for Christmas in 2021 when the active baby suddenly couldn’t crawl or sit up, instead flopping “like a pancake”.

After countless surgeries, including major spinal surgery, 18 rounds of chemotherapy, blood transfusions and months of proton therapy in the US, for the moment, no cancer is detectable.

But treatment for the cruel disease, found on Evelyn’s spine, has sadly left the little girl, who “smiles through it all” and has endured more than 70 general anaesthetics in her short life, with kyphoscoliosis, a combination of two spinal conditions that causes unnatural curvature, with concerns at the rapid rate in which her spine is “hunching over”.

She also has neuropathy, a nerve problem that can cause pain, numbness and tingling, or “spiders” as she refers to it.

The little girl spent months in the US undergoing proton therapy …

… but ‘smiles through it all’.

Her family lives in fear of the disease returning, told if she does relapse, it will likely be terminal, especially if that happens before she turns five; she is now deemed be in the high-risk time period for it to again rear its ugly head.

“Ewing is so aggressive and can sit microscopically dormant for years … you’re not said to be in remission but rather what is called NED – no evidence of disease,” the anguished mum, 36, says.

“Statistically, it is better if (the cancer) presents in a limb as that can be amputated to try and prevent it spreading – obviously, we couldn’t do that with Evelyn.

“We are still in the thick of it and don’t know if she will make her fifth birthday, so, for us, every Christmas is so important … every milestone is so important.

Little Evelyn, with her family at home, loves to dance and perform. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“We recently had her ‘fairy ballet’ concert and I burst into tears backstage … seeing her in her gorgeous little tutu and thinking, ‘I don’t know how many more of these we’ll get’; we don’t know if she will be in a wheelchair next year, or even if she will still be alive in a few years’ time.”

The family will soon learn if the “strong-willed” young girl who loves dancing and performing in her Disney princess dresses will need to spend months in a full body cast, to slow down the curving of her spine – or if surgery will be necessary.

Until then, they will soak up every memory, every ballet twirl, every excited bit of chatter from the outgoing little girl who “will talk to anyone who is willing to listen”.

“The joy and spirit of Christmas in our family at the moment is huge, we’ve gone full Christmas this year,” Mrs Tuckerman says.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are days that are really tough but, to be honest, my daughter’s smile is what keeps me going … she’s faced so much adversity but she still smiles.

“This whole journey has taught me, you have to really appreciate the little things, to press pause and take those mental snapshots … these are the memories that we will have, whether she lives until she’s 80, or only for a few more years.”

“I’ve just really had a reset on how I look at life; it’s not about planning for five to 10 years away, it’s about planning for tomorrow – and living today.”

#The Tuckerman family is urging people to consider donating to children’s cancer charity Camp Quality this festive season.

“(It) allowed us to have fun, to remember that outside of cancer, we can still enjoy life and feel normal again, even if we’re going through hell,” she says.

Originally published as Three-year-old Adelaide girl’s cancer battle means Tuckerman family never takes Christmas for granted