Hamish in cancer battle

Family buoyed by generosity

You see these shows where everybody bands together for a family hit with something like this and you never think you’re going to be in that situation. — BEN CULLEN

THE morning of July 6 started out like most Saturday winter days for the Cullen family.

Six-year-old Hamish was set to play soccer at Woodbridge, but on arrival he felt tired and was unable to play.

His symptoms later worsened to include vomiting and headaches. Less than a week later — after a trip to the family’s GP and a range of tests — Hamish was having an operation in Hobart to remove a brain tumour.

The diagnosis that Hamish had medulloblastoma — a form of brain cancer — devastated his parents Ben and Kate, and his siblings Elijah, 12, and Jade, 10.

“It was the worst thing you can hear,’’ Mr Cullen said.

Mr Cullen said the surgery to remove the tumour was a success, but subsequent tests confirmed it was cancerous, and an aggressive form of the disease. Hamish then underwent a six-week course of radiation in Melbourne.

The family arrived back at their Kingston Beach home recently for a six-week break before the next treatment.

While he is still suffering from the side effects of the treatment, Mr Cullen said Hamish was happy to be home.

“He’s loving being home and being in his familiar surroundings,’’ he said.

“Being able to walk along the beach has made a big difference to his mood.”

Mr Cullen said post-surgery, Hamish had developed posterior fossa syndrome, which is characterised by a reduction or absence of speech.

He is being fed through a nasal tube.

The family will again travel to Melbourne at the end of this month for the next part of Hamish’s treatment, an expected seven-month-long course of chemotherapy.

News of Hamish’s illness came just over a year since the family’s home was severely damaged in the Hobart floods in May 2018.

“We had water throughout the whole house and we had to move out then for 12 weeks,’’ Mr Cullen said. “Since then we have moved back into one end of the house and we’re staying in a self-contained unit at the moment.”

A carpenter by trade, Mr Cullen works for Hutchinson Builders while Mrs Cullen is employed by the Australian Taxation Office.

Mr Cullen said the family had been overwhelmed by their employers’ support, and that of family and friends.

Mr Cullen said he was similarly touched by people’s generosity in a GoFundMe campaign which has raised more than $5200 to date to help with the family’s costs.

“You see these shows where everybody bands together for a family hit with something like this and you never think you’re going to be in that situation.’’