North Queensland toddler Lathan Searle diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma

Energetic, brave and cheeky, little Lathan has already been fighting his whole life after being born with his twin sister at 26 weeks. Now his parents have a new fight on their hands.

North Queensland toddler Lathan has been diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma.

A North Queensland family has had their world turned upside down after learning one of their twin toddlers was riddled with tumours as he battles a stage four cancer diagnosis.

Energetic, brave and cheeky, little Lathan has already been fighting his whole life.

The almost two year old and his twin sister Layne were born at 26 weeks and two days – three months premature – and spent 102 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Townsville University Hospital.

Now his parents have a new fight on their hands after Lathan was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in late July.

“My guts just dropped,” his mum Rhiannon Curran said when she learned the heartbreaking results.

North Queensland mum Rhiannon Curran and her twins Lathan and Layne. Lathan has been diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma.

She knew just how hard it would hit her partner Trent Searle, as his family had a history of cancer – his uncle died from leukaemia, and Trent had been also diagnosed with liver cancer when he was the same age as Lathan.

“And so I probably freaked out a little bit more because I knew it was going to break his heart hearing it,” she said.

Trent was working at Dysart and when she called him to tell him she said she “couldn’t get the words out”.

The doctor had to relay Lathan’s results.

North Queensland toddlers Lathan and Layne were born three months premature in October 2022.

Understandably, the couple was extremely emotional, but Ms Curran, who is originally from Middlemount, said they “gave ourselves 24 hours” before deciding they had to “suck it up and get on with it”.

Within days of the diagnosis Lathan and his mum were flown to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane and since then he has already undergone four rounds of chemotherapy and had stem cells harvested.

During this time Mr Searle and their daughter Layne travel the 1200km, or 14 hours, between their home in the Burdekin and Brisbane.

And it was going to be a long road, Ms Curran said Lathan’s treatment could take 12 to 18 months – he has tumours throughout his body including his upper arm, hips, top of his legs, liver, adrenal glands and in his bone marrow.

Lathan and his father Trent Searle.

He will also need further chemo, a stem cell transplant, radiation, immunotherapy and will need to take medication at home for two years.

“We sort of just adapted this, until it goes wrong we’re not going to worry about it, attitude,” Ms Curran said.

“We try not to think about the worst case scenario.”

She said they also tried to keep things as normal as possible for Lathan, and because he had already spent so long in hospital as a premmie baby she felt they were “ahead of the game”.

Lathan has already undergone four rounds of chemotherapy and had stem cells harvested.

“We’re not ignoring the risk but getting on with life and trying to let him be as normal as possible and make memories,” she said.

“He’s quite lively … a lot of the children down here are like that.”

She said Lathan had made a friend from the same area and loved to flirt with the nurses.

“He has everyone wrapped around his little finger,” she laughed.

“He hasn’t been too sick yet where he hasn’t wanted to sit and play or bounce around the bed.”

The hardest part for Lathan, Ms Curran said, was being away from his sister.

Lathan and his twin sister Layne.

“He misses her dearly, they’ve never been apart before,” she said.

Ms Curran praised organisations including Red Kite, This Strong Mum, Camp Quality, Ronald McDonald House and The Leukaemia Foundation for all the emotional and financial help in their time of need.

“It’s nice to have some support and feel like somebody’s got your back outside of the hospital,” she said, adding Trent had to leave his job after Lathan’s diagnoses to take care of the family at home while Ms Curran and their son were in Brisbane.

To try and help the family through this harrowing time Ms Curran’s Mackay-based aunt Evelyn Pinnington has started a GoFundMe.

“Lathan is an energetic, brave, and cheeky young man. He is a fighter,” she wrote.

“I am hoping we can support Lathan through this fight. Together we can provide Trent and Rhiannon some financial support and reduce some of the financial weight and stress, so they can focus on helping Lathan’s brave fight.”
To learn more about the GoFundMe visit here.

Originally published as North Queensland toddler Lathan Searle diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma