Just before he started Year 7, his first year of high school,
Dan Neville found out he had brain cancer.
While the start of high school is nerve-wracking enough, it was
especially tough and overwhelming for this 12-year-old guy. Dan was
combating the usual questions about high school like - What if I
don't belong? Will everyone in my class like me? But on top of
that, Dan was dealing with even bigger and tougher questions like -
What's cancer? How did I get it? Will it go away? How sick will I
be? Does it hurt? Can I go to school? Is my hair going to fall out?
Will I live?
Not long after starting high school, following his chemotherapy
treatment, Dan's hair started to fall out in clumps on his desk. It
was scary for his schoolmates to watch - and a totally overwhelming
and lonely experience for him to go through on his own.
"He would
put on a brave face, but he'd come home from school and be quite
sad. The kids around him couldn't understand what was happening to
him and why. He only partly understood it himself."
Ruth Neville, Dan's mum
The stories we hear everyday about young people like Dan have
motivated us to bring. The Teenage Alchemist to high schools across
the country. If Dan's mates had seen a play like this, they would
have been able to better help Dan with his experience.
Sadly Dan passed away last July. This was just a few weeks
before we staged our first high-school performance. His parents
told us the program would have been a terrific help to their
son.