Kelly was pregnant with her third child when she realised something wasn't right with her son Oli.

Parents Kelly and Joel were looking forward to the birth of their third baby when they received the devastating news that their son Oli had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.  

Kelly spoke to Mamamia about how they all got through an extremely challenging two years of managing his treatment, while continuing to parent and work amid a global pandemic. 

"I had just returned from a quick surprise trip to London to see my sister," Kelly told Mamamia.

"Joel, Oli, and Belle came to meet me at Sydney airport and while excitedly telling me what they had been up to, Oli, then four years old, told me about falling off a stool and hurting his hip."

At the time, Kelly thought the story was strange, and she noticed the following day that Oli was limping. She took him to see her chiropractor to get it checked out.

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"Initially his limp improved, but the following weekend he couldn't even get up the stairs of our terraced house," Kelly shared. 

"As I was back at work, Joel took some time off to take him back to the chiropractor for an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken. When the x-ray came back, he asked a local GP to have a look."

While the GP said nothing looked unusual, she suggested Joel take Oli to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick for a blood test, just to see what was going on. 

"I thought it was probably an overreaction, but Joel wanted to get some answers. I went home and had dinner with Belle and my parents. As we were still awaiting news, I took some dinner to the hospital while my parents stayed at our place."

Shortly after Kelly arrived, the treating doctor walked in to discuss the results.

"When a nurse took Oli away to play, so that the doctor was alone to talk with us, I knew the news was bad.

"She saw I was pregnant and asked if I was okay. I had this weird moment of mother's intuition and suddenly said, 'I think you're about to tell me my son has leukaemia?' to which she replied, 'Yes, it looks like he does'. 

"And that was the night that changed our lives forever."

Brave Oli in hospital. Image: Supplied.

Oli was admitted to hospital straight away and spent the night in ER with Joel. Kelly says that the support from their big and loving family kicked in almost immediately. 

"Joel is one of six siblings and I am one of four and our parents are incredibly supportive. Everyone was on board helping us in whichever way possible and by the next day, family were either at our house or visiting us at the hospital. 

"My sister even flew home from London and moved in with us to help. She acted as that all important contact point for our wider community. She organised food deliveries and helped with Belle and set up a WhatsApp group without Joel or I in it to communicate updates as that was so overwhelming.

"It was a huge blessing to have her isolate with us when the pandemic broke out as she was amazing. When I look back now at everything we've been through, I know we couldn't have done it without family support."

After diagnosis, Oli's treatment began immediately with surgery to insert a portal for the chemotherapy. He required 15 months of aggressive chemo through his portal or central line (what medics refer to as 'protocol treatment') followed by a year of oral chemo. He also endured six surgeries as well as dozens of lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirates. 

"Oli was amazing. He is just a beautiful, blessed and happy child. He is inquisitive and loves to ask questions, but he is also the child who has always been super reasonable - even as a toddler I could sit down and explain things to him.

"We kept our language very positive and age appropriate around him. He knew he had a virus in his blood that we needed to get fixed with medicine at the hospital. I never once referred to it as cancer."

In March 2020 - 39 weeks into Kelly's pregnancy with baby number three - the family were hit with further difficult news.

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"Our approach throughout Oli's journey with leukaemia was always 'failure is not an option' so we mostly moved forward with a positive outlook, led by Joel who was my absolute rock.  

"At the end March, when Oli had some tests and a review with doctors, we were expecting all traces of leukaemia to be gone, but that wasn't the case. His results showed that unfortunately he still had a small amount of leukaemia in his system meaning they classified Oli as 'higher risk'. It was very emotional and hard to know how to deal with it all. 

"I also had concerns about the amount of chemo Oli was going to need. But while we were worried, we just had to trust the team. We had a great relationship with all of our doctors and nurses at the children's hospital and they were absolutely amazing."

It was at this point that doctors suggested testing Kelly and Joel's unborn baby to see if he was a match for Oli. (They had previously tested Belle but unfortunately she was not a match.)

"Doctors could test the baby before he was born using my blood, and happily he was a match! A specialist was on hand and ready to collect the cord blood in the delivery room and now we store that in case Oli relapses and ever needs a transplant - which we pray never happens."

Back in March, however, Oli needed additional, more intense protocol treatment with surgery to insert the central line. He was admitted immediately and with Kelly so close to her due date; it was a difficult goodbye.

"It was a very emotional day as I knew I might not see him for a couple of weeks. It was also right at the start of the first lockdown in 2020 so everything was so uncertain. The next day, on April 1, I went into labour."

After two c-sections with Belle and Oli because of complicated labours, Kelly knew she would have a third c-section. The day after Oli went into hospital for surgery, she woke up with mild contractions.

Oli and brother Harry. Image Supplied.

"Joel was so excited and while initially my feeling was to wait and see what happened with the contractions, considering what Oli was going through, we decided not to risk it. We just wanted to get our baby out safely."

The family support network stepped up to help. Joel accompanied Kelly to North Shore Private Hospital for the birth and Kelly's sister went to the hospital to be with Oli while Kelly's parents stayed home with Belle. Baby Harrison or 'Harry' was born at 11.20pm that same day.

"It was such a joy amongst this difficult period of our lives. Harry is the happiest baby and those five days I spent alone, with no visitors, was like a holiday. It was a beautiful way to get to know him before bringing him home to first meet Belle and then Oli.

"I spent a lot of days in Harry's first few months by Oli's side in hospital and Harry would just hang out with us for cuddles. It was very special to be with the two of them and they now share a beautiful bond."

During Oli's 15 months of chemotherapy, Kelly estimates he spent around six months in hospital. He missed a whole year of preschool and most of kindergarten in 2021, because of a combination of COVID lockdowns and treatment.

"During that time we were constantly on high alert. If Oli spiked a fever 38 or above, he had to be rushed to hospital within 30 minutes. It was only after his maintenance chemo stopped that we could stop monitoring his temperature.

"The Fight Cancer Foundation's 'Back on Track' education program was wonderful for Oli as it kept his brain stimulated in a way that really only school can do. It was also a daily normalcy that helped Oli from getting too far behind with his learning while having treatment. Oli loved having the one-on-one sessions with his educators Trisha and Jan while in hospital and they taught me a lot of transferable skills I used when I had to homeschool him."

In September 2021, while homeschooling Oli, the family moved to Hawks Nest on the mid-north coast of NSW. 

"Living through the pandemic with an immunocompromised child was really adding to our worries, and we wanted to get out of Sydney so we rented this old beach house right on the water. It was wonderful to see Oli, Belle and Harry thrive with so much time outdoors and with the ocean on their doorstep."

The siblings now - Harry, Oli and Belle.

Oli is now happy and healthy and back at school with an ambassador role for Fight Cancer Foundation's Footy Colours Day on the side. 

Kelly advises other families who might just be beginning their child's medical trauma journey to call on their support networks and take it day by day.

"We know we are lucky to have such a supportive family and also that Oli is now in remission and back at school, loving life. 

"I look back now and see that we just had to put our heads down and get through it. We were in flight or fight mode for two years and we fought it as best we could. 

"It has taught us so much about ourselves but also about Oli and how resilient he is. 

"I look at him and think he is just amazing - a true superhero."

Kelly is speaking out for the first time about her experience to spread awareness around Fight Cancer Foundation’s Footy Colours Day - a month in September that calls on Australians across the nation to hold events and wear their favourite Footy Colours to raise money to help with education for kids like Oli while going through treatment. She hopes to share her story to help bring hope to other parents going through a crisis.

Feature Image: Supplied.