Gold Coast Toddler's Rare Cancer Diagnosis Sparks Urgent Overseas Treatment Quest
A Gold Coast toddler is confronting a cancer so exceptionally rare that she ranks among only a handful of children worldwide diagnosed with it. However, her family is now embroiled in a secondary struggle to secure overseas specialised care that the 20-month-old urgently requires.
Goldie's Alarming Health Decline and Diagnosis
Goldie's distressing journey commenced when she began losing motor skills, regressing from nearly taking her first steps to collapsing and eventually being unable to bear any weight at all. Her family persistently voiced concerns and requested imaging, but it was not until months later that critical changes unfolded.
Affectionately known as "Golden Bean", Goldie was rushed to hospital after becoming critically unwell. Scans unveiled a large tumour compressing nerves in her spine, leading to a devastating diagnosis. "We find out our daughter has cancer and not just the world’s rarest cancer but it’s super aggressive—it’s in her spine and pelvis," explained mum and former Jillaroo Maddison Bennett.
The condition, identified as an extra-cranial malignant rhabdoid tumour, was confirmed before Goldie even reached her second birthday, necessitating emergency spinal surgery. Since then, the once bright and bubbly girl has endured four rounds of chemotherapy and now urgently requires radiation treatment.
Challenges in Accessing Specialised Care
"Obviously radiation on a 20-month-old baby is quite intensive and can have lifelong consequences, so we’re trying to get her the best treatment which they actually don’t do here in Australia," Bennett emphasised. Due to the extreme rarity of Goldie's case, she is entangled in health system red tape, which is delaying access to life-saving treatment overseas.
Bennett expressed profound disappointment, stating, "I feel like we’ve been let down as a family. So, we’ve got to do it ourselves." The family faces a tight timeline, as Goldie needs specialised proton therapy in Singapore next month. Proton therapy represents a more advanced form of radiation that can precisely target the tumour site, thereby minimising radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.
Fundraising Efforts for Critical Treatment
To facilitate this urgent medical intervention, the family has initiated a fundraiser to cover costs associated with the treatment, expedited travel, extended accommodation, and medical insurance. "She deserves every single chance because she is a fighter," Bennett affirmed, highlighting Goldie's resilience amidst this harrowing ordeal.
The community is rallying to support Goldie's fight, underscoring the broader challenges families face when navigating rare medical conditions within existing healthcare frameworks.
