All smiles after winning battle
CANCER survivor Ashton Powell is now the picture of health – her rosy- cheeked complexion has returned and her blonde hair has sprouted into a pixie cut.
The 16- year- old, who touched North Queensland with her gut- wrenching essay about her battle with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, credits her recovery and happiness to her bond with 17- yearold brother Dylan Powell.
The pair “went through hell and back together” over the past two years – from the moment they were split up with Ashton going to Brisbane for lifesaving chemotherapy.
Dylan, a farmhand, stayed home in Ayr certain he would never see his little sister again.
“I thought she was gone. I thought I didn’t have a sister any more because I didn’t knowk h how l leukaemia worked. I thought you get it and there’s nothing you can do,” he said.
“I was freaking out every day. I was lashing out at school and at home because I tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t happening.”
Dylan even abandoned his favourite sport, boxing. After seeing the pain his sister faced, he “no longer wanted to cause any pain to others” and hung up his gloves for good.
Ashton is now in remission and returned home in January to complete her studies parttime at Ayr State High School.
“I get anxiety a bit at school, it’s hard to make friends. I get tired easy so I spend some time laying down in the sick bay and I get depressed because I’ve been kept down so I can’t be with my year level and all of the people I’ve known since Grade 8,” she said.
“But mostly I feel proud o of myself and strong to h have gotten through it. I almost died three times and now I dream of my future of being a photographer one day. I still have my weak moments where I cry but I get over it quickly.”
Ashton, who still has to check in with her GP every month and have blood tests every year, thanked the Ayr community for raising about $ 30,000 for medication, travel and accommodation during her treatment.