Be Strong , Be Courageous our Little fighter Mason

“Be Strong , Be Courageous our Little fighter”. Kia kaha, Kia maia tatou toa iti

Just three weekends ago little one year old Mason was chasing seagulls at Auckland Zoo. Days later he is now living permanently at the “Starship Children’s Hospital” in Auckland City, Mason has just been diagnosed with AML Leukaemia,

Join the ride, “Pack prayers and dollars to help little Mason on his journey"

A group of 14 ladies that live on the Sunshine Coast Australia who were brought together by the local baby health community centre in May of 2014, all have babies the same age and we’ve knitted some pretty tight friendships ever since.

With Sarah’s permission we have launched Mason’s givealittle support page.

Sarah and her beautiful family settled in Australia in recent years originally being from New Zealand.

What an awesome lady, mother and friend ! Sarah and her partner Jay - parents to two beautiful robust boys - Mason (1) and Weslley (nearly 4) recently made a “family first” decision to move back to NZ to reunite with their huge families.

We miss Sarah and all look forward to her FB posts, usually full of good news, pics and updates on how little Mason is doing ;

How quickly things can change …

Mason was suffering from a stubborn cough that would not let up – Sarah knew something was wrong. Doctors ordered a comprehensive blood test revealing a full blown diagnoses of AML Leukaemia.

What unexpected and traumatic news for this beautiful family. Sarah says … “Just days ago we were happy - eating icecream at the Zoo, and now… our world has just been turned upside down”. “We are devastated, we are so scared for our little boy”

There is no prognosis or reassuring “happy ending” for this very sick little man who now has a predicted 6-8months stay in hospital with a fulltime parent required to be present. Now intense chemo therapy awaits Mason, blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant in October.

Sarah and Jay are in shock but trying to soak up all the medical information given to them about Masons condition.

What is AML ? In the simplest terms: AML involves the presence of bad white blood cells which rapidly prevent his body from functioning normally and disables the body to be able fight infection. AML Left untreated can quickly spread to other parts of the body and quickly become fatal.

Sarah cannot leave Mason alone, he must be watched every minute of every day to ensure he does not tear out his IV line connected to the main vein in his heart. Following a toddler around with tubes and IV drips is exhausting Sarah and yet were only so early into his treatment.

Weslley, older brother misses his mum and baby brother terribly everyday. Family visits to the hospital are a juggling act between work and kindy and everything in between, communication between them is done nightly over video calls.

Dad is struggling to cope with not being able to see his little man every day and has been forced to reduce his hours of work to balance the care Weslley. So now their normal household income is reduced with medical bills now flying in, wow - Can this get any harder ?

Thus far Mason is accepting treatment and displaying amazing courage and resilience to early medication being administered. Although… medication is about to become more challenging over the next few months. Long term side effects and symptoms of Masons planned treatments all look bleak, tough and frankly just too much for Masons parents to accept right now.

So what are we doing to help Sarah?

HERE IS OUR PLEDGE …

I know there are many children in cancer treatment

I know Mason is not the only child with a seriously fatal diagnosis

We are asking : If you could please give any dollars you can, any amount no matter how small? If a donation is not possible - your thoughts and prayers for Mason are GOLD.

Please know that the donated funds will go towards the medical expenses for Mason and for post treatment health deficiencies to come.

Thankyou in advance for anything you can give to help this family.

WE MUST GET MASON WELL - THERE IS NO OTHER ENDING TO THIS STORY.

Can I shout out a huge thanks to the friends and family that have already been helping the Harvey/Knight family - Sarah and Jay cannot thank you all enough for supporting them both at this time. They have a very long way to go, it’s only been 3 weeks of treatment, please keep your support up!

Sunny Mums in action! Welove you and we are thinking of you everyday xxx

Finally - Mum and Dad’s message for little Mason …

“Kia kaha, Kia maia tatou toa iti” - Be Strong , Be Couregeous our Little fighter