By Gabriella Payne
The Kelly family are a brave bunch who have been through a lot over the last year, as two and a half year old Chaz is now battling cancer for the second time in 12 months – but they’ve never let that dampen their fighting spirit.
Recently however, the young family were dealt yet another blow when Chaz’s highly anticipated Starlight Foundation gift got lost in the post, with little chance of replacement.
Chaz’s mother, Sarah Kelly, said that the special present had “just never showed up” at their door and although it had their correct address on the parcel, it seemed to have been delivered to the wrong home, where someone had signed for it and claimed the gift.
“It felt like a bit of a slap in the face with everything that we’ve been facing recently,” Ms Kelly said.
“Australia Post were extremely unhelpful with it, and after our own investigations we’ve found out this is happening regularly. They told us there is nothing they can do about it – their excuse has been because of Covid,” she said.
In May this year, Chaz was re-diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) for the second time within a year.
Ms Kelly said that this time, the cancer had come back a lot more aggressively and little Chaz would now require a bone marrow transplant later in the year to try and beat it yet again.
“We’re just taking it day by day,” she said.
“He’s autistic as well, so he doesn’t really understand, but he’s starting to let us know when he’s in pain.
“He recognises he’s a bit different,” Ms Kelly said.
“His big sister, who is a year older than him, has clued on to it all now.
“She knows her little brother is sick, and she’s got a million and one questions for us. Like the other day she said, ‘he’s got a band aid on, so why isn’t he better?’ – so this is what we’re battling.”
In a bid to try and find the missing gift, Ms Kelly took to some local Facebook groups, asking if anyone had mistakenly received the package which was delivered on Friday 18 June – but to no avail.
Instead, the family received an outpouring of support from the local community, with people offering left, right and centre if they could buy Chaz replacement gifts or make donations to help him through his treatment.
“Over the weekend, we had a lovely lady who we’ve never met before drop off two massive bags of gifts for Chaz and his siblings,” Ms Kelly said.
“We’d never met her, but out of the kindness of her heart she just dropped them off, which was very overwhelming, but lovely to see a complete stranger go out of her way to make his day like that.”
The missing package was filled with cars, trucks, tractors and a very special gift for Chaz (who is a car lover, like his Dad) that Ms Kelly said the Starlight Foundation are trying to replace – but at the moment they were hoping the package might still turn up.
“He’s been in so much pain recently, so the gift would have been a distraction from it really,” Ms Kelly said.
Despite this all, Ms Kelly said that Chaz was still a happy little boy who “has never lost his smile” and it was heartwarming to see the community coming together to support them through this difficult time.
“We don’t have family near us (they live interstate) but I’m glad we live in such a wonderful place with an amazing community,” she said.
“One day it will all get better, but we’re just lucky we’ve still got him really.”
Chaz’s daycare has set up a fundraising page to help support Chaz and his family through their battle with cancer.
To donate, search ‘Support Chaz’s Fight’ at www.gofundme.com
