After months spent in the hospital, Camp Quality helped Savannah and her family make happy memories

Savannah was a bubbly, bright nine-year-old girl, who loved gymnastics, playing on her Xbox and hanging out with her friends. She was thriving at school and loved her coding class.

When Savannah started complaining about lower back and stomach pain on and off, her parents thought she must be going through a big growth spurt. Savannah wasn’t sure and felt like something wasn’t right. Her parents, Courtney and Luke immediately booked a doctor’s appointment. After a few tests, the doctors said that she had an Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).

“We just treated the UTI and thought that’ll be it, then she developed another strain.”

After treating the second UTI, tests still came back abnormal, showing signs of an infection. The doctor recommended that they get an ultrasound to check if there could be something going on with Savannah’s bladder or kidneys. The family had to wait for a week before Savannah could have the ultrasound, in early November 2023.

“I’ve had three babies. So, during the ultrasound, when they said, “Your doctor will be in contact,” the alarm bells rang. I took her back to school then called my partner and said, “Something just doesn’t feel right, especially after what the sonographer said, I don’t feel right.” I had to go to work that afternoon and just waited by my phone. Later on, the doctor called me and said that they had found a tumour in her abdomen.”

Throughout the afternoon, Courtney received one call after another from the doctors and hospital staff. She is a disability nurse, and the moment she heard the word ‘oncology’, and knew that it was serious.

“I was starting to panic a lot. The next day we had to go to the hospital really early in the morning. She had to have an MRI, PET scan and CT.”

After being transferred up to the oncology ward and sitting down with a doctor to discuss the test results, Courtney looked straight at him and asked, “Does she have C,” not wanting Savannah to hear the word cancer yet. With the simple reply of “Yes, she does,” Courtney felt the ground fall out from beneath them.

The doctors initially through that Savannah had muscle cancer but after a biopsy a week later, they were able to confirm that she had a rare form of germ cell cancer, ovarian dysgerminoma. The cancer had started in her ovary and already jumped to surrounding tissue.

“Once we got the diagnosis of the cancer, the hospital had a plan. She had her central line put in under anesthesia on the 24th of November 2023 and started chemo the following morning. She also had to have lung function, kidney function and hearing test before, during and after chemo so they could see if there were any side effects from the chemo she was receiving.”

A few days after having her central line inserted, when Savannah was getting ready for school, Courtney asked her if she understood what was going on.

“She said, “I’m not well and I might have cancer.” We gave it a couple of days and then we explained to her that yes you do have cancer. She told two of her friends at school who got quite emotional about it because they had experienced cancer in their family, and to a lot of people, cancer equals passing away.”

Over the next two months, Savannah endured each day of treatment with incredible bravery and resilience.

“It didn’t slow her down, obviously it stopped her from doing a lot of things, but she still got out of bed and did what she could. She had a smile on her face at the best of times and the worst of times, even being in hospital for longer because she required blood and platelet transfusions.”

After Savannah’s first round of treatment, when Courtney was brushing her hair, she could see that it was starting to fall out. Together they made the decision to shave her head.

“That was the one thing I will say hurt her more than finding out she had cancer was that she was going to lose her hair. I think she was scared she’d be looked at like the sick kid and that would be a part of her personality. Losing her hair was like losing a part of herself.”

Their family, friends and school community rallied behind Savannah during this time. Lots of her friends cut their hair shorter and some family friends shaved their heads to support her.

“It was such a teary moment, everyone caring, and kids going to school with shorter hair in honour of her. I think that helped her a lot, that she had such amazing support around her that people were willing to do that for her.”

After over two months of intense treatment, the doctors said that they were finally able to operate. During the surgery, they removed an ovary, fallopian tube and some surrounding tissue. Afterwards, the family was given the incredible news that the doctors were confident they had removed all of the cancer. The oncologist said that they had diagnosed her cancer just in time as the cancer had begun to move towards her lungs.

“We just think how this all came out of her complaining of tummy pain, back pain and having a UTI. If we would have delayed, could it have gotten to a lung? Could we not have been in the position we are in? You just think to yourself, “Don’t ignore the little signs.””

During Savannah’s treatment, Courtney and Luke’s parents helped to look after their two younger children, Chelsea and Sebastian. Chelsea was in kindy and struggled to be separated from her sister and mum while they were staying in the hospital.

“The school were aware and said they would keep an eye on Chelsea. She was quite emotional, saying to her teacher, “I’m really scared for my sister.” When we got out of the hospital and went and picked her up from school, she was so emotional that she just held her sister for what felt like forever, like a huge hug and it was so heartbreaking.”

Sebastian was only three when Savannah was diagnosed and too young to understand. His curious nature almost got them into trouble though, with Savannah having to be careful to cover her chest tube, in case he tried to pull it out.

After her surgery in February and a series of tests, Courtney received a call on 5 March 2025, to let her know that Savannah was officially in remission. Courtney waited until their next doctor’s appointment so that the doctor could tell Savannah the exciting news in person.

“A week or before her 10th birthday, she rang the bell and got her certificate of completion of chemotherapy. It was a very emotional time just to see her ring it and sign her name on that board. Like you’re a superstar, you’ve fought cancer along with hundreds of other children who’ve had the honour of putting their names on that board.”

The family found out about Camp Quality from their social worker, early on in Savannah’s treatment. Courtney was excited for their family to be able to attend safe and fun events, giving Savannah some of the experiences she missed out on while in the hospital.

“When Savannah was receiving treatment a lot of things were put on hold because she couldn’t attend, and family weekends would be altered so she could participate and not feel left out.

“We went on our first Camp Quality Family Camp together at Hastings Point last year. All these children, they’re running around, they’re laughing, and it was really good for Savannah to be around that. At school, she spoke to the guidance counsellor but it’s different having a conversation with an adult than a child because obviously as a child you see things differently. For her to have the honour to be able to attend these Camp Quality events, where she can speak to other children who have gone through it, and they can share their own stories. We also got to sit down with other families at the parent-only lunch and it was amazing to hear stories about their children.”

Since going on Family Camp, Savannah and Chelsea have been on two Kid’s Camps together.

“The memories they shared, the companions that they get on the kids-only camps, it’s just amazing. You get the photos after and you see how happy they are. Everyone was smiling and laughing. It was really good to be a part of.”

“Chelsea’s companion last year, she had gone through cancer as a child and went through Camp Quality and now she’s back as a volunteer. Savannah said to me, “I would love to be a volunteer.” And I said, “Well, that could be something you could look into doing. That could be your way of paying it back, supporting other children who have gone through the worst time in their life and being there and seeing them smiling and happy.””

This year, Savannah’s family went on their first Family Retreat to the NRMA Treasure Island Holiday Park. For a few days, they were able to leave their daily lives and worries behind, soaking up the sunshine and spending quality time together having fun.

“It was just beautiful. We all had the best weekend and were able to celebrate Chelsea’s birthday. It was just incredible to have it paid for by Camp Quality. I just think we’re blessed.”

Savannah is now back at school, and diving into all the activities she loved before her diagnosis. She is still adjusting back into the classroom, after taking so much time off. She was able to do some schoolwork at home and in the hospital school, but she still missed a lot.

“She just had her one-year cancer check, and through every scan, sitting in the waiting room, you just think … is it back? Even Savannah just gets worried. That fear, I don’t feel like it will ever leave me or her because you never know. That’s why you have cancer checks so we can monitor it. You just take it week by week and month by month.”

“To be a part of the amazing activities Camp Quality organise is amazing and very appreciated by us all. From the Family Retreat to kids-only weekends, our kids have always had the best of times and shared their favourite memories with everyone.  Thank you for all the time and effort you all put into making families’ lives better and helping make happy memories.”