MP Jaala Pulford fights tears over child’s death as $45m funding for children’s cancer announced

MP Jaala Pulford wept as a huge boost for child cancer research was announced, reflecting on the heartbreaking loss of her own daughter.

MP Jaala Pulford sheds tears as child cancer research funding is announced. Picture: Luis Ascui

The lives of kids living with cancer will be transformed with a $45m boost — the biggest investment ever made to children’s cancer research in Victoria.

The state government announced on Sunday it will contribute $35m to funding with Children’s Cancer Foundation pledging $10m.

The $45m investment over five years is Stage 2 funding for research, clinical trials and workforce development activities within the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium.

Stage 1 funding was secured by the Children’s Cancer Foundation via the Federal Government Medical Research Futures Fund.

The funding will be spent on discovery research, clinical trials, survivorship research programs, enhanced biobanking resources, childhood cancer physician and research training and grants.

Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford lost her 13-year-old daughter, Sinead, to cancer in 2014.

Ms Pulford teared up as she announced the plan, reflecting on Sinead’s diagnosis.

Sinead Pulford at a elephant park in Bali on the day a lump was found in her stomach in 2014. She later passed away from cancer.

“I know what it’s like to have a doctor say your child has cancer… the worst moment imaginable,” she said.

“Three days ago my daughter should have been turning 21. And we lit some candles.

“I truly believe this plan will make for the lighting of more birthday candles and less memorial candles.

“We need to do better for our kids.”

Ms Pulford said the funding will make a real difference for the children and their families.

“We are working with families and our world class medical researchers to take on children’s cancer,” she said.

“This plan will make a real difference — leading to earlier diagnosis, better treatments and less heartbreak.”

Daniel Andrews said the funding will be rolled out over the next four years if Labor is re-elected next month.

Children’s Cancer Foundation chairman Jeremy Smith said the boost would be a driving force in children’s cancer research in Australia for years to come.

“Since 1980, over 500 drugs have been approved for treatment of adult cancers. Yet for childhood cancers, the number is 12 worldwide,” he said.

Jaala Pulford, with her husband Jeff, son Hamish and a photo of their daughter, Sinead who died after a short battle with cancer. Picture: Sarah Matray.

“In the midst of the pandemic, the Children’s Cancer Foundation created the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium where we realised research with scale and leverage was critical.”

Royal Children’s Hospital Head of the Children’s Cancer Centre Professor David Eisenstat said the funding would help develop new tests.

“The significant problem has been patients who develop long term effects of cancer treatment, including heart toxicity, hearing loss, bone marrow suppression, cognitive impairment and unsecond cancers,” he said.

“We need to develop new tests to determine which children will be at greater risk of these unacceptable toxicities and identify alternative effective treatments to avoid these side

effects, but at the same time not to reduce the effectiveness of our therapies.”

Karly Kirk’s daughter Darcy was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma at 11 years old.

Australian doctors didn’t have experience with the rare cancer so the Kirk family had to reach out to French and American doctors to find a course of treatment.

A German test, which could provide conclusive results, was unavailable to Darcy.

Mrs Kirk said she hoped that one day the test would be available in Australia to give her family peace of mind.

Until then, they don’t know what Darcy’s fate will be and whether her cancer will come back.

“It would be an absolute relief if we knew,” Mrs Kirk said.

“At the moment, we’re hopeful and positive but I always worry in the back of my mind that we might miss something.

“Different funding and more resources coming into children’s cancer would make tests like this accessible to families.”