Help Annabelle To Come Home
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My name is Sandy, please scroll down to read my story and help us by donate and spread words to help bring my daughter back home.
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago where I thought we’d be today, I can tell you it wouldn’t be here, stranded in Mexico with my daughter on life support and no help from our government to get her home.
Let me back up and tell you more. My daughter, Annabelle, is currently 5 years old. When she was just 2, she was diagnosed with an inoperable and almost always fatal brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). We were told that Annabelle would likely die in less than one year, and that radiotherapy might give her a few extra months. No other options were offered to us.
At that time, I applied for carer’s leave from the Australian government, but was turned down because Annabelle could still walk. In the same breath, our government told me that my daughter would die in less than a year, and that I was ineligible for paid leave to care for her during that time. After Annabelle underwent radiotherapy, we moved to Vietnam, where she could be surrounded by extended family and we could afford our living expenses.
By May of 2017, Annabelle’s cancer was in progression, meaning that it was spreading and her symptoms were worsening. Unwilling to accept that there were no other options to save our daughter, we found hope in an experimental treatment offered in Monterrey, Mexico. We immediately sold our home and all of our belongings, and we traveled across the globe to Mexico, where we have now been for over a year. Initially, Annabelle responded beautifully to the treatment, and it was even declared that she had no evidence of disease (NED) in January of this year.
However, Annabelle’s symptoms soon returned, along with her cancer. After her last treatment, she needed a shunt to help relieve pressure buildup in her brain from hydrocephalus (the accumulation of fluid in the brain), and soon after, she fell into a coma, in which she still remains. While Annabelle’s brain scans show activity, she’s unable to breathe on her own, and she requires hospitalization in the ICU. The cost of keeping Annabelle in the hospital amounts to over 2300 AUD/day. We implored the Australian government to help us bring her home, but they denied us.
I can’t help wonder what kind of world we live in where the government will pay for criminals to be extradited to Australia for sentencing and imprisonment, but they refuse to help bring an innocent child home.
Annabelle needs an air ambulance to make the trip home to Australia. That is the only way she can travel. The flight costs $220,000 USD, and we are on our own to pay for it. With the help of family, friends, and strangers around the globe, we have been able to give Annabelle a fighting chance at life.
Now we’re turning to you again to help us bring her home. No donation is too small, and every share will help us get her closer. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago where I thought we’d be today, I can tell you it wouldn’t be here, stranded in Mexico with my daughter on life support and no help from our government to get her home.
Let me back up and tell you more. My daughter, Annabelle, is currently 5 years old. When she was just 2, she was diagnosed with an inoperable and almost always fatal brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). We were told that Annabelle would likely die in less than one year, and that radiotherapy might give her a few extra months. No other options were offered to us.
At that time, I applied for carer’s leave from the Australian government, but was turned down because Annabelle could still walk. In the same breath, our government told me that my daughter would die in less than a year, and that I was ineligible for paid leave to care for her during that time. After Annabelle underwent radiotherapy, we moved to Vietnam, where she could be surrounded by extended family and we could afford our living expenses.
By May of 2017, Annabelle’s cancer was in progression, meaning that it was spreading and her symptoms were worsening. Unwilling to accept that there were no other options to save our daughter, we found hope in an experimental treatment offered in Monterrey, Mexico. We immediately sold our home and all of our belongings, and we traveled across the globe to Mexico, where we have now been for over a year. Initially, Annabelle responded beautifully to the treatment, and it was even declared that she had no evidence of disease (NED) in January of this year.
However, Annabelle’s symptoms soon returned, along with her cancer. After her last treatment, she needed a shunt to help relieve pressure buildup in her brain from hydrocephalus (the accumulation of fluid in the brain), and soon after, she fell into a coma, in which she still remains. While Annabelle’s brain scans show activity, she’s unable to breathe on her own, and she requires hospitalization in the ICU. The cost of keeping Annabelle in the hospital amounts to over 2300 AUD/day. We implored the Australian government to help us bring her home, but they denied us.
I can’t help wonder what kind of world we live in where the government will pay for criminals to be extradited to Australia for sentencing and imprisonment, but they refuse to help bring an innocent child home.
Annabelle needs an air ambulance to make the trip home to Australia. That is the only way she can travel. The flight costs $220,000 USD, and we are on our own to pay for it. With the help of family, friends, and strangers around the globe, we have been able to give Annabelle a fighting chance at life.
Now we’re turning to you again to help us bring her home. No donation is too small, and every share will help us get her closer. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
Organizer
Sandy Nguyen
Organizer
Perth, WA