By Wendy Williamson
The families of two little Yarra Ranges girls are delighted to see their children well again after a gruelling cancer journey.
Four-year-old Indy Dawes from Badger Creek and five-year-old Evie Gleeson from Marysville met in the Royal Children’s Hospital at the beginning of their treatment for leukaemia.
Their shared journey through adversity led to the girls and their families developing a close friendship.
Two and a half years later, Indy and Evie have finished treatment and are officially in remission.
Now they are starring in a storybook, out this week.
‘The Get Well Tree’ is designed to encourage children who are unwell and comfort their parents in what can be a stressful time.
Indy’s mother, Kate, said it was certainly difficult for the family when Indy got the shock diagnosis of leukaemia at 21 months.
Years of treatment in the form of chemotherapy and steroids followed.
“We had lots of visits to the Royal Children’s Hospital, sometimes for weeks on end. My husband and I tag teamed, because we had another daughter, who was just a baby,” she said.
Kate said the family was buoyed by the support of the local community.
“They were absolutely fantastic!” she said.
“Our church, St Brigid’s in Healesville, supported us, and so did HICCI (Healesville Inter-Church Community Care). People, sometimes random strangers, would deliver meals, give presents to the girls (Indy has two little sisters, Madison and Scarlett) or donate money.
“The Leukaemia Foundation was also very supportive.”
Indy is now enjoying three-year-old kindergarten and looking forward to attending four-year-old kinder next year.
The whole family is excited to see her featured in a book alongside her buddy Evie.
‘The Get Well Tree’ is the latest initiative from The Heart Project, which aims to change lives through photography.
It is the creation of award-winning photographer Karen Alsop of Story Art assisted by a dozen other photographers.
Evie and Indy took part in a photo shoot that had them acting out the story on each page in a green screen studio.
The result is a beautiful picture storybook depicting Evie and Indy and their journey through a magical fantasy land.
Karen Alsop said it was an emotion-charged occasion when the girls were presented with copies of the book at Indy’s Badger Creek home.
“This book means so much to Evie and Indy and their family. The tears of joy when they saw it for the first time were so moving,” she said.
“We now have an opportunity to share that hope with other sick children all over the world with the public release of The Get Well Tree.”
Sharing that hope began at the launch of the book at Monash Children’s Hospital on Monday 2 October. Comedian Ben Price was master of ceremonies and children’s entertainment group Hi-5 were popular special guests, alongside the girls.
After the launch, Evie, Indy, Hi-5 and The Heart Project Team visited the cancer ward of the hospital and handed out autographed copies of the hope-charged book.
