‘I don’t want to leave now’: Young Darwin Family’s cancer heartache

A young family has suffered the unthinkable after a they were ripped apart by a heartbreaking diagnosis.

Young mum Anna Shuhang Yu and husband Will Hou have spent the last three years in Darwin chasing what they call the “Australian dream” and they got close.

Anna was studying accounting at Charles Darwin University while Will was content working as a sole trader.

And on February 7, the pair welcomed their baby daughter Sunny into the world.

Young mum Anna Shuhang Yu pictured with her baby Sunny. Picture: supplied

It all came crashing down in late June when Anna was diagnosed with a rare but extremely aggressive and inoperable GBM brain tumour (glioblastoma).

In the space of just weeks the young, happy and healthy mum was left bedridden.

On Saturday, just weeks after her 28th birthday, she passed away with Will and Sunny by her side.

Young mum Anna Shuhang Yu was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive GBM brain tumour. Picture: supplied

“We came here three years ago, brought all of our deposit from overseas,” Will told news.com.au.

“We were here with an Australian dream and we were almost done.”

‘I don’t want to leave now’

Anna shared a heartbreaking account of her battle in the weeks before her passing where in the face of death, she remained profoundly stoic.

“I try to be strong,” she said.

“But I can’t control my tears whenever I think of my baby. She is a (six)-month-old, happy girl. She always has a big bright smile on her face.

“She has no idea what is happening and even has no chance to know her mum.”

Anna spoke of the struggle to deal with the fact she wouldn’t be around for her daughter’s major life milestones.

“I won’t even be there to hear her say ‘mummy,’” she said.

“I think of how I won’t be there to see her crawl, walk, and talk.

“How I wouldn’t be there to celebrate her birthdays, to send her to school or read a bedtime story,” she continued.

“To teach her swimming and ride, to travel around the world, and take her shopping, to watch her grow up, meet her boyfriend one day and be there at her wedding day.”

Anna turned 28 in hospital just weeks before she passed away. A photo of the occasion shows her celebrating what would be her last birthday with a cake next to her hospital bed.

But the young mother’s zest for life did not fade.

“I just had my 28th birthday, and I don’t want to leave now,” she said.

“I need to fulfil my roles and responsibilities. I am a mum, a wife, a daughter, a friend and a member of society.

“I want to keep smiling, helping and caring for everyone I meet.”

Love over death

Will and Anna did their best to make sure their small family’s lives were filled with love for their last days together.

The couple brought forward their wedding after the which had been postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anna’s parents also joined the newlyweds in Darwin from China, helping look after baby Sunny while Will continued to work to support them.

Anna Shuhang Yu and husband Will Hou pushed forward their wedding after Anna was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.

“My husband has no time to be sad because he is the only person in our family who can work to support us financially,” Anna said.

Anna’s shared glowing words of appreciation for her husband.

“My husband is amazing. He is a strong man,” she said.

“He goes to work while I am in the hospital so that we can continue paying our rent and living expenses.

“He cooks delicious meals, cleans the house, and is a wonderful dad to Sunny.

“We both love each other more than our life. He even said he’d like to trade his life for my health.”

‘No idea about the future’

Anna started a crowd-funding campaign to assist her treatment just over a month before her death.

“I hope your love and care for my family will help my baby, my elderly parents and my husband have the hope and courage to overcome life’s challenges in the future without me,” Anna said.

“If you can give us enough for the surgery and living expenses, I will be able to rest in peace.”

Anna Shuhang Yu and husband Will Hou put their life savings into starting a new life in Australia from Beijing three years ago. Will said the pair fell in love with Darwin.

Will said the fundraiser, which has raised over $55,000, went towards her treatment and will support him and baby Sunny as they prepare to take on life without their mother and wife.

The grieving husband said it was now up to him and Sunny to achieve complete the little family’s “Australian dream”.

“I have no idea about future, but I have to keep moving anyway,” he told news.com.au.

“She is watching me from heaven, and I promised her that I must achieve our dream, for our baby, for her.

“I promise I will be here, and the baby, here in the land that she loved.”

The Charles Darwin University Students’ Council has invited all who knew her to join them on Friday in celebration of Anna’s life.

“Please join us this Friday as we celebrate her life and reflect on the beautiful young woman she was, and the lives she’s touched with her incredible story,” the council said.

Anna was the council’s treasurer and loved involving herself with the university, according to Will.