By Dongyun Kwon
Kasey Day is a 10-year-old girl who was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in December 2021 and the Yarra Glen community has given her huge support.
She has undergone treatment for the last 18 months and lost her left kidney, and the cancer spread to her lungs.
Kasey underwent radiation at The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and also attended The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne for stem cell recovery.
Kasey’s mum AnnMaree Roberts said the whole Yarra Glen community has shown them a huge love which has enabled them to get through all the hard times.
“My mother who is living in Yarra Glen went to all the local businesses and they all donated certain things from what they had,” she said.
“My mum went around and asked for raffle tickets for $1 and she raised over $1000 which helped us immensely from all the little things, including parking tickets, food and fuel, to the hospital cost.
“All the things that the community did for us blew me away and I want to thank everybody for all their support.”
Unfortunately, Ms Roberts became homeless 18 months ago.
“We’ve been in and out of motels and I’m now living with my mum with [my] two daughters in Yarra Glen,” she said.
“I’ve spoken to all the housing people in the area and no one could help me because we’re in a crisis and I can’t afford $500 or $600 a week in rent when I’m Kasey’s carer.
“I’ve reached out to every service and I’m tired of ringing and repeating my story.”
Kasey has to go to the hospital every 10 to 12 weeks to check her Wilms tumour.
“It’s not about me, it was about knowing that I can’t change my situation,” Ms Roberts said.
“When my children say ‘when will we get our own house and when will we be together and have our animals back together?’, I don’t have the answer.”
