Calen's Birthday Fundraiser for Nurse Linny

CALEN’S SPECIAL LEAP YEAR BIRTHDAY FUNDRAISER FOR BEAUTIFUL NURSE LINNY

Our beautiful leapling boy Calen has been patiently waiting for the last four years to finally and officially turn 2 years old on 29th February this leap year! For his special birthday, he has only one very special birthday wish....Calen sincerely wishes that our beloved Nurse Linny will win her courageous battle against her brain tumour. Therefore, instead of any birthday presents, he would like everyone to donate to his birthday fundraiser created in her honour.

Nurse Linny is our amazing College Nurse who has always gone above and beyond to provide loving care to our children over the years. We have all experienced her excellent clinical skills, boundless compassion and empathy, uplifting spirit, infectious sense of humour and innate ability to connect profoundly with people from all walks of life. In a cruel twist of fate in October 2019, Linny was diagnosed with a tumour at the base of her brain whilst she was in the prime of her life. As a devoted mother and wife as well as a dedicated, hardworking health professional, suddenly life grounded to a halt for her as she underwent major brain surgery. Consequent to the unfortunate location of her tumour, she has been through gruelling months of recovery, enduring severe vision loss and complete dysfunction of her pituitary gland, which produces many hormones that are essential for functioning in daily life.

Unfortunately, recent developments mean that the road ahead will continue to be extremely physically and emotionally challenging for this beautiful young woman and her family in the coming weeks and months. Due to a sudden and unexpected regrowth of the brain tumour, she will be undergoing a second major brain operation just before Calen’s birthday, and following that, it will be necessary for her to attend radiation therapy sessions. With this treatment plan, her medical team hopes to achieve control of the growth of this tumour for years to come but sadly, the risk of further recurrence cannot be eliminated entirely. Even with the best outcomes, her vision is not likely to improve enough to enable her to return to driving - yet another major challenge for this family to navigate.

Despite being dealt such an unlucky hand in life, Linny has confronted this difficult journey with awe-inspiring strength, indomitable positivity and immense gratitude. Through her eloquent words full of wit and inspiration, she selflessly shares her often daunting journey and encourages us to reflect on our own lives to foster change in the realisation that you never know what is around the corner!

The entire school community is sending all their love, thoughts, prayers and support to Linny, Danny and Ava during these uncertain times. However, I am sure that we can also support this young family in a more practical way.

Calen would like to kick off this fundraiser with his own personal money from his Chinese New Year red packets, visits from the tooth fairy and chess prize money. His brother Rylan also cannot wait to contribute his own money to the cause. They are encouraging their friends and their parents to do the same. Your donations will greatly assist with her medical and travel expenses in addition to anything the Clayton family may need during this difficult time.  It will also help to supplement the family’s income while she is unable to return to her cherished career.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you in advance for your generosity and support!

(Details of Linny’s medical condition and management have been released with her kind permission)