My journey so far

Hi, I’m a 14-year-old boy from Tasmania and I’m here to tell you my story. My journey started back when I was around 4 years old when my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. The following months were hard for my family, finding the cash to pay for his treatment while trying to afford to feed 6 people including my younger brother who has autism to whom I care for.

A couple of years later my youngest brother was born but little did we know that as we would welcome one life to the world we would mourn the loss of another as sadly dad lost his battle. After that, life went well for about 3 years before my youngest brother who would of been roughly 3 years old was rushed to hospital after a rash had shown up. We all thought it was an allergic reaction to something he had ate till the tests came back and he was rushed to hospital.

Later that month we found out he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic Leukaemia and that he had to spend the next couple of years hooked up to machines in hospital, those few years went past really slowly and no one quite knew what was happening since we were still young (me being about grade 3).

After he returned home we found out about all these organisations dedicated to help out families of those who had been affected by cancer, all those amazing foundations have helped me with my education and recently I’ve been able to go to New Caledonia thanks to the help of one of those organisations. I’ve also made heaps of new friends with people who have dealt with similar situations and everyone helps everyone out.

These days I help out by caring for my 2 younger brothers and my mum. I help out whenever I can whether that be simple tasks like washing the dishes or cleaning the house all the way to going out and splitting wood or feeding the horse and taking the dogs for walks but yeah anyway that’s my story.

Other stories

My brother taught me

I’m Amy, I’m 19 and I live with my mum in Shepparton, Victoria. I get up and make breakfast. There are times when I help her get dressed in the morning. I make sure she has lunch, and then at night,  make sure she has her medicine. I’m also a carer for my grandfather. He […]
Read full story

Growing up

Hey, my name is John, I’m 16, living in Melbourne and I am a young Carer. I look after my single parent, deaf mum and my little brother, aged 6. Having a deaf mum can be difficult at times, making phone calls, interpreting for her, helping with grammar and English and helping around the house […]
Read full story

Ambitions to help

I am 17 years old and I have been a young carer for most of my life. I currently care for my brother and father with the help of my mother and older brother. It started with my younger brother who was diagnosed with autism. As we are only a year apart I help him […]
Read full story