‘She’s my guiding light’
Jarrah Podesta and Mathilde Cross, both 14, met in Year 2 at Campbells Creek Primary School in rural Victoria and became friends immediately.
It wasn’t long before Jarrah lost his vision, after being diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer. Ever since, Mathilde has become his eyes.
“Mat would wear a bright coloured scarf at school so as my vision got worse, I could still find her on my own in the yard. She was always thinking about how to be supportive,” says Jarrah. She even learned braille so the pair could write to each other.
When award-winning author Pip
Harry heard about their inspiring friendship she used it as a jumping off idea for her novel August
& Jones. “You don’t see many kids with the sort of the resilience and sense of humour that Jarrah has about surviving his cancer,” Pip tells Woman’s Day. “When he was wheeled into surgery, he apparently said, ‘Goodbye eyeball!’”
Asked how it feels to have a book written about their friendship, Jarrah and Mathilde say it’s “a little weird” but “very special”.
“Jarrah’s friendship is amazing to me. We will be friends for the rest of our lives,” says Mathilde.