Hannah’s story: How the puppets brought joy to hospital and school

Ten-year-old Hannah was an active, healthy child, who loved basketball, gymnastics and being outside and swimming in the ocean.

“Hannah is a beautiful, friendly, outgoing, social little person who can make a friend, a new friend within a minute,” says mum, Rachel. “She’s just a happy little ray of sunshine.”

But almost overnight, that all changed. Towards the end of the September school holidays in 2024, where Hannah and her parents had spent the weeks bushwalking, taking on waterslides, and hanging out with friends at sleepovers, she woke up one night with bad chest pain and pain in her legs.

“I thought she was having a heart attack. It was a really bad pain in the chest; she was having trouble taking deep breaths. She felt like she couldn’t walk.”

Rachel called the ambulance and they took her to get checked at the hospital. The hospital gave her Nurofen and Panadol. Overnight, the pain subsided and Hannah was sent home. On Sunday and Monday, Hannah stayed home, missing the first day of term four, to rest.

By Monday afternoon, the pain had returned. But they were worse this time and covered her whole body in turns. Rachel and her husband Simon took Hannah back to the hospital. After hours of sitting in the waiting room, Rachel thought that perhaps they should just go home. But her husband said that they should just wait and see.

Finally, the doctors saw Hannah and ordered a blood test for her in the hospital. The results came back, and the doctors told Hannah’s parents that there was something in her blood that shouldn’t be there, and they were going to admit her overnight.

Initially Hannah’s parents just thought she had a virus. But the next morning, the doctor came in and told them they suspected she had cancer and would be transferred to Queensland Children’s Hospital.

“I just remember that initial shock and that feeling I had. I just stepped out of the room, and I was just looking in on her, bawling my eyes out. I was hoping I kept… actually, I kept hoping they were wrong and it was just a virus.”

Within a few days, Hannah was diagnosed with B-Cell leukaemia and started treatment. “We sat down with the nurse and doctors, and they showed us the plan. I was blown away. They had this map and knew exactly what to do.”

The doctors told Hannah and her parents what the next 12 months would look like. Treatment consisted of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

“She’s been amazingly resilient. I’m not saying it was easy at all for her though, but she naturally has this sunshine and happiness about her, and she just coped so well. She has missed out on a lot, which has been really tough, but she’s just got this amazing resilience to bounce back.”

While she was in hospital, Hannah met one of the Camp Quality puppets who she affectionately called Green Dean.

“She’s such a social little person. She just loved visits and she was one of the favs with the nurses because she’s just so happy and chatty.”

 

“She’s such a social little person. She just loved visits and she was one of the favs with the nurse because she’s just so happy and chatty.”

When she was ready to go back to school, Rachel organised for the Cancer Education Program delivered by the puppets to visit her school.

“They did two shows, one for the younger kids and one for the older kids. Hannah got up on the microphone in front of the school and said, “Hi, I am Hannah. I have leukaemia, which is blood cancer, and I’d like to introduce you to these amazing Puppets from Camp Quality.” She was so brave and so confident and even at the end, she got up and said: ‘Thank you so much, Camp Quality. Does anyone have any questions?”

Recently (in December 2025), the family went away on a Family Retreat to Port Macquarie. It was the family’s first holiday in over a year. “It was just so nice to get away from it all and have fun at our own pace.”

In February, they went to their first Family Camp.

“We had an amazing weekend. It was brilliant. We checked in on Friday afternoon and had a swim, had dinner and met lots of other families going through similar journeys, which was really nice, both for Hannah and for us. I said to Hannah, ‘How do you feel meeting other kids going through similar things?’ One boy was pretty much on the same stage as Hannah, and he’s the same age as Hannah. She thought that was pretty good. And she said, ‘It feels better knowing I’m not the only one going through this.’.”

While at camp, Hannah got to see her good friend that she made on the oncology ward at the Children’s Hospital, when they were roommates. Together they caught up and played! Hannah loved spending time with her friend outside the hospital and making new memories with her family.

“It was just a lovely time away together, relaxing and having fun, and not having to think about hospital and sickness and medications. We came back feeling refreshed and relaxed and a little bit more normal.”

Hannah has just started high school, and while the adjustment has not at all been easy, she’s done an amazing job settling into her new school, learning to navigate the school, find her classes and organize herself and make new friends. After missing so much school last year, she walked into high school with such confidence and such an amazing positive attitude and given it her absolute best. “We are so proud of her.” She is really enjoying her subjects; she has already received two Student of the Week Awards from her teachers who have already noticed the incredible positive attitude and sunshine she brings.

Hannah and her parents are counting down to finishing Maintenance chemotherapy in February 2027 and finally being able to ring the bell.