As 18-year-old Isaac Cairns shaved off his hair, it brought back harsh memories of his battle with cancer.
He survived ependymona cancer, a rare tumour that occurs in the brain and spinal cord.
It was 10 years ago on May 25 that Isaac’s parents Kirsten and Greg got the heart-breaking news of their eight-year-old being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The Elim Christian College student shares his life-changing journey of pain and suffering along with tremendous support they got to create awareness for his favourite charities, Starship Hospital, Make a Wish Foundation, CanTeen and Child Cancer Foundation.
Isaac says the news of a brain tumour came as a great shock to his parents who had brushed off their son’s constant headaches and throwing up, thinking it was nothing major at first.
“We were living on a houseboat in Hong Kong at the time since my dad Greg was a pilot. I remember it was just four days after my sister Emily’s birthday that they removed the tumour.
“The surgery was done in two batches over 23 hours. It was a miracle that for the second surgery an American doctor, a leading neuroscientist, heard about my case and offered to operate on me as a case example.”
Once the tumour was operated on, it was a long, hard road to recovery.
“I was fully paralysed after the surgery and hooked onto more tubes than I could count. I had to go through seven weeks of radiology after that, which was tough for an eight-year-old.
“My dad had to carry me around. My nana and dad’s cousin Mike Taylor flew to Hong Kong and stayed with us for a year to help mum and dad to look after me.
“Mike did hours of rehab swimming with me. Other family members also took turns and did stints to help us out.”
Friends and family formed a `Go Isaac’ team with matching t-shirts to help Isaac get back on his feet.
“There were so many fundraisers held as people rallied around us,” he says.
“The doctors had said that I would have to spend a year or two in hospital but, thanks to all the support we got, I was out of the hospital in six months.”
Isaac says that it was his Christian faith that helped him recover.
“One day when I was laying in the hospital, the Lord spoke to me. I felt his presence. After that moment, I knew I had a fighting chance. My dad said that my mindset completely changed after that day.
The family returned to New Zealand in 2013.
Isaac underwent two corrective eye surgeries and still suffers from fatigue and has issues with coordination.
“When I shaved my head, I felt that no child should ever go through any of this.
“I shaved my head on the May 24 to raise awareness that when something big and bad happens, for example, Covid-19, everything else doesn’t stop. People still struggle with cancer in these times and Covid is just an added difficulty.”
