Deb's Army - A fight for more time against Cancer

Hello, my name is Tessa, and I am fundraising for someone who is so special to so many people. For the last 4 years, I have had the help, love and friendship of my amazing Support Worker and dear friend Deb. I have seen her every day, 5 days a week for 4 years. She and her family are now part of our family, and we are part of hers.

Deb has been diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer which is one of the more aggressive cancers. She has undergone intensive tests and sadly, due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, treatments are limited and she has been given a life expectancy of 13 months

It’s typical Deb style to be as positive as she can as she battles this menace, and faces an uncertain future as she undergoes chemotherapy.

We are all completely distraught and we are trying to find ways to help. Deb is so anxious about everything, and one of her main worries is how she can pay rent to stay in her home. If we can raise enough money so that Deb can pay her housing rent in advance for the next 6 months, buy groceries and have some home help, it will mean she can concentrate on getting through chemotherapy.

Let me tell you a little bit about this strong, compassionate woman who is always full of the joy of life, and always giving to others.

She, her husband Jason and their three children Ellie (11) Chloe (7) Harry (6) emigrated to Australia in 2007, to start a new life in the sun. All was going well for a few years, when a surprise Australian-born baby arrived- little Luey. Deb and Jason wanted Luey to have a playmate, and Deb was soon pregnant with baby number 5. Jason was a FIFO electrician on one of the mines, and tragically, on a trip home to see his family, he suffered a seizure and died suddenly. Two months later, baby Ruby (their little ray of sunshine) was born.

Ruby has just turned 9, and since her birth, Deb has raised alone 5 wonderful children, Ellie is a nurse, Chloe a childcare and support worker, Harry a Bricklayer and funny, energetic and lively 11 year old Luey is in his last year of primary school. Ruby dances through life spreading joy wherever she goes.

Deb could have gone home to England, to family and friends, but her and Jason’s dream had been to raise the children in Australia, and she has done everything she could to make that happen- working 2 jobs, doing anything she could to fit in with the children’s lives, being inventive and creative to make ends meet, and always, always putting herself last. Last night, Jim and I went over to support the family, and what we saw when we arrived brought tears to my eyes. After a 12 hour shift at the hospital, Ellie had arrived and whilst setting the table, was helping Ruby and Luey with their homework. Harry and his partner Ella, on arriving home from work had cooked Shepherds Pie for dinner (Deb’s favourite comfort food) and prepared the school lunches for the next day. Chloe had done a weeks grocery shopping, tidied it away and started on the laundry. Shane, Ellie’s partner, was organising school drop offs and pickups as Deb is unable to drive, or indeed do very much at all due to the pain and discomfort she is in. The older kids and their partners cannot sustain this as they all work long hours, and in very physically challenging jobs, and we need to find a way to support them all.

What Deb needs now is help from the wider community, and I hope that somehow we can generate enough support so that she doesn’t have to worry where next weeks rent is coming from, or how she will pay the power bill, or the children’s school trips. Please help if you can, and PLEASE please send her prayers and thoughts; she is about to start the biggest fight of her life.