Little battlers: The brave kids in big fights against injury, illness

From cancer diagnoses to life-threatening injuries, here are the young people who have defied all the odds to survive their enormous battles.

EVERY day in our region there are tiny humans fighting big battles against illness, injury, and disability.

Inspiringly, they manage to defy the odds to live incredibly fulfilling lives.

Here are the young people fighting big battles in our region:

Asher Dawson

Asher Dawson has overcome more than what any child should have to.

He was a regular young boy – loved soccer, Roblox, the Treehouse story books, until his life changed.

A shocking leukaemia diagnosis threw his and his family’s lives into disarray – but Asher’s bravery has kept him going.

He was first diagnosed within weeks of him starting school – his mum took him for a check-up because he had been exhausted, and he started developing rashes.

When one doctor told his mum Michelle it was eczema, she sought a second opinion – within days, Asher began treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Asher Dawson has overcome more than any child should have to.

“Asher had a bone-marrow transplant but it’s a pretty full on procedure” Mrs Dawson said.

“They basically kill all of his blood cells.

“It all went really well.

“They’re very vulnerable to infection because they’re like a little newborn baby.”

His brother Joshua, 12, was a suitable donor for the transplant.

The week that marked 12 months since his bone marrow transplant, Asher developed a lump on one of his lymph nodes.

Mrs Dawson knew immediately what it was.

“They did a blood test and found that the leukaemia was back again.”

He was rushed in for a second bone marrow transplant from a donor.

The whole experience was “traumatic” for the entire Dawson family, and something completely unexpected – a true nightmare for any family.

“It’s a real shock,” she said.

“It’s not anything you could ever prepare for or expect to happen.

“It was a normal school day then all of a sudden I’m being told that they’re sending a helicopter.

“It’s quite traumatic and you go into shock.”

Mrs Dawson and her family spent countless days, weeks, months at Ronald McDonald House, who provided solace and comfort during what was an incredibly trying time.

But for someone so young, he has absorbed his challenges like a hero.

“He’s been so stoic and brave,” Mrs Dawson said.

“They have an unimaginable amount of procedures and horrible things done to their bodies and he’s barely cried.

“He’s been so brave and resilient and loves joking with the nurses and banter and making jokes and having fun.

“They all say that he’s one of their favourite patients.”

Asher is now in the maintenance phases following his second bone marrow transplant, and is off most medications.

Faith McCormick

Doctors of little Faith McCormick, from Jimbour, never expected her to live.

Her mother, Amanda, was told to choose – let her daughter have surgery, or let her go.

But she knew her daughter was a battler.

Mrs McCormick knew early in the pregnancy that her daughter was going to be in for a big battle.

Faith was born with only one kidney, and no bladder.

She spent the first month of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit in Brisbane before going into surgery, and at one month old she entered renal failure.

Faith McCormick and her brother Evan.

Faith has had a number of surgeries since then and has had chemotherapy after doctors found tumours in her liver.

But now Faith lives at her home in Jimbour with her family, and lives a “normal” life despite her traumatic start.

“To see her go from being so sick and that as a baby to seeing her grow and become a normal little girl – I don’t know the words to use, it’s a miracle to see something like that happen and for her to be so happy,” Ms McCormick said.

It’s a hard thing for a kid so young to understand, but she does know there’s something different about her.

Faith does peri-natal dialysis at home, and knows that her kidneys don’t quite work.

“She doesn’t realise she’s got no kidney function,” Ms McCormick said.

“She does know that if she doesn’t go on her machine at night that she will end up back in hospital.

“She doesn’t understand the full extent of it.”

Ms McCormick said it’s not about wrapping her daughter in cotton wool out of fear of her getting sick – it’s about letting her live her life to the fullest after such a difficult start.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, emotionally and physically,” she said.

“You have your good days, your bad days.

“It was a lot to get my head around to begin with.

“As the time went on I wouldn’t change it.”

Tim Riley

Three weeks before Tim Riley’s 16th birthday, the incredibly active teen was diagnosed with a heart-wrenching disease that robbed him of his ability to walk and talk.

He and his mum Pauline were told he wouldn’t make it to his 16th birthday.

18 months later, he stood up from his wheelchair, now he’s completing long-distance runs – a feat no medical professional thought they’d ever see.

Tim was diagnosed with two leukodystrophies which destroy the development of the brain.

Ms Riley said her son went into a “downward spiral” of depression after his diagnosis.

“Before he went into a wheelchair he was able to walk, talk, run, ride bikes, and that was robbed from him once he hit the wheelchair,” she said.

(from left) Billy Drury, Tim Riley, James Nutt and Nat Spary ready for Hike for the Homeless. Thursday, October 28, 2021. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“He just wanted to be normal again.”

It was Tim’s support worker who designed a program to help him strengthen his ankles again and get in and out of his wheelchair.

In August this year, he will be completing the Hike to Homeless as a 19-year-old man – a stark contrast to the young boy who was put in a wheelchair and told to expect the worst.

“Words can’t express the sheer emotion that I have every time I see him cross that finish line knowing that 18 months ago he was in a wheelchair,” Ms Riley said.

“It’s the most exhilarating feeling a mother can have.”

Caitlin Lang

Caitlin Lang’s story is not just one of survival, but how she turned something painful into something that would help so many future generations to come.

Caitlin spent three days in a coma after she was involved in a horrific car accident that shattered her leg.

Mary MacKillop Catholic College captain Caitlin Lang. Picture: Kevin Farmer

It was that life-changing incident that inspired her to study medicine, going on to be awarded Dux of Mary Mackillop Catholic College and winning the Ronald McDonald House Charities Charlie Bell Scholarship to assist with her studies at the University of Queensland.

Now, she’s studying to work in the medical profession in honour of the people who saved her, and gave her a new lease on life.

Mikey Whitby

Michael ‘Mikey’ Whitby began overcoming the odds from birth.

Born profoundly deaf, Mikey has had cochlear implants from the time he was about four months old.

Mikey has also been raised by his single father, Robert, after his mother Elise was killed in a car accident in 2015.

Michael Whitby hasn't let any of life's challenges stop him from remaining grateful and doing his best.

The eldest in his family, Mikey, his dad and his sisters banded together to continue overcoming the challenges no family should have to face.

It wasn’t long after that he found a love for swimming.

He has competed on state and national levels, and won countless awards for his achievements.

It’s something that has gotten him through good times and bad, and Mikey continues to overcome the odds.

His mother’s legacy also lives on through him and his family, who awarded the Elissa Flanagan Aim High Scholarship Award at the Business DisABILITY Awards.

Imogen Merritt

Imogen Merritt’s health battle began when she was barely a day old.

Three months after doctors found a heart murmur in the tiny newborn, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease, Tetralogy of Fallot, which caused four defects in her heart.

Imogen Merritt.

Her parents Kristie and Steven Merritt were told she would not meet her teenage years without open heart surgery, so at eight-months-old she had surgery.

Since that day, Imogen has developed and grown in leaps and bounds.

Speaking to The Chronicle, Mrs Merritt said her family had emerged from the experience with a sense of gratitude for life and family.

“To even know that we’ve been through major milestones and major situations, I know that there are families who are doing it a lot tougher,” she said.

Ellie Ross

At the tender age of two, Ellie Ross was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, and was faced with a battle no young child should ever be faced with.

Ellie faced the battle of a lifetime at the age of two.

Their journey began in January 2021 when Ellie’s parents Karlie and Mason picked up on signs that her daughter wasn’t well – from a fever to a deep, chesty cough.

Along with the initial cancer diagnosis, Ellie was also diagnosed with a mucormycosis infection with the strain Rhizopus.

That infection has an 80 per cent fatality rate.

Speaking to The Chronicle, Mrs Ross said her husband and son Leo had to stay home in Highfields while Ellie sought treatment in Brisbane.

Sarah Degier, 11, faced her long recovery with a sense of humour and commendable bravery. She suffered burn injuries to the majority of her body after she was dragged underneath a car for 170 metres.

Little Evie has a rare condition shared by only a handful of people around the world. Photo/Kacee Oberle