The Camp Quality Puppets help Addison smile again during long hospital stays

“Addison was a very active little girl ever since she learned to walk. She’s done dancing, swimming, gymnastics, singing, and was just always happy. She’s so empathetic, kind, and such a loving kid,” says Bianca, Addison’s mum.

In March 2024, Addison had just turned five and was settling into preschool. She was more tired and clumsy than usual, but Bianca and her husband Daniel,  thought it was just taking time to adjust to the new routine.

“She started getting some bruises here and there. She’s always been very clumsy, falling over and hurting herself. Then, a couple of weeks later, I started noticing the bruises more, like dots on her elbow and neck.”

Bianca was worried that she was being bullied at school and went in to chat with the teachers. At the same time, she took Addison to their local doctor to get a blood test to see if she had a deficiency that was making her bruise easily.

A few hours later, while Bianca was picking up Crimson from daycare, her phone started ringing, and ringing, and ringing. When she got back to the car, she saw all the missed calls just as the phone started ringing again. Only this time it was her husband, Daniel.

“When I wasn’t picking up, the doctor called Daniel and said that we had to rush her to the hospital. They said ‘If you’re not with her, call an ambulance. She has to get to the hospital ASAP.  So, we did.’”

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor was waiting for them and said that her bloodwork was so bad that at any moment her heart could have given out. Addison’s body didn’t have enough bone marrow and wasn’t able to produce the blood she needed. Within days, the doctors were able to confirm that she had aplastic anemia.

“She had less than five percent of her bone marrow left, so the doctors decided to go straight for a bone marrow transplant. She has four siblings, but only one is a full sibling, Crimson. She wasn’t a match. They had to do a global search, so we shared it in Australia, and my cousin shared it in the UK.”

For more than three months, while they waited for a donor, Addison spent most of her time in the hospital, with Bianca by her side. Her immune system was barely functioning because of her lack of white blood cells. She needed regular blood and platelet transfusions but was still constantly getting infections with raging fevers.

“Daniel became a single parent. Anytime we were sent home from the hospital, Addison would get an infection, and we would go back. We lived in the hospital, and Daniel lived at home with Crimson, trying to work and take care of a two-year-old. Crimson lost her mum; she didn’t have me for a year.”

The Camp Quality Puppets visited Addison in her hospital room. They knew how vulnerable she was to infections and made sure to see her first, so they didn’t put her at risk after visiting everyone else. If she was too sick, they would talk to her through the doorway, so she could still see them and smile.

“She was always asking for the Camp Quality Puppets. She loved them; they were everything to her. They were really funny, and they kept her happy. They also gave me the chance to sit down and just have a moment to myself.”

After meeting the puppets and seeing how much they helped Addison, Bianca registered their family with Camp Quality and organised for them to visit Addison’s preschool.

“Addison was in the hospital and couldn’t go to the puppet show, but there was another little girl who had Aplastic Anemia there. They learnt a bit about aplastic anemia, because of Addison, which was really nice. It taught the school community about what was going on and was really normalising for when Addison came back and had a nose tube.”

In June 2024, after months of searching, the family found a bone marrow donor from the UK for Addison. To prepare for the transplant, Addison needed to have a week of chemotherapy and medications. However, she needed to be well enough to start these treatments. The days before were very stressful for the family, with Addison spiking another fever.

“I couldn’t believe what we had to do and put Addison’s little body through. It was clear that without the bone marrow transplant, the future looked dark, but that wasn’t going to be our future.”

When the transplant day arrived, hopes were high. “We were all super excited and couldn’t wait for what the future held for our little star.”

The donor in the UK underwent weeks of preparation for the extraction of bone marrow from her blood. She was able to donate three times what Addison needed, so that she would have more in reserve. Bianca says that “words can’t even come close, we are forever grateful.”

After a month of waiting, the doctors were able to confirm that the transplant had been a success, and Addison’s body was starting to produce blood on its own again. The next few months would be hard as she recovered from the chemo and adjusted to the new medications. She would still need more than year of blood transfusions and medications until her body could function on its own. This was a big milestone, but there was still a long way to go.

After her transplant, Addison was still unable to go to Camp Quality events, because her immunity was too low.

“She was a girl in a bubble. We couldn’t take her anywhere. She wasn’t allowed in supermarkets or shops. She wasn’t allowed out of the house, and only certain people could visit.”

In September 2024, Bianca was speaking to Camp Quality staff to see if there was something Addison could do, and they were immediately booked into a Family Retreat. Five days away, at an NRMA holiday park down the road from their home.

“The Family Retreat was amazing; we were so relaxed. It felt like we were in the eighties, the kids were running around like crazy, and we were just relaxing.”

In early 2025, Addison was well enough to start transitioning back into her school class.

“Addison loves school, and it’s all she talked about when she was getting better. She was so excited to be back in class, even for one to two hours once a week, with her friends, teachers, and learning.”

In July 2025, when Addison had her nose tube removed and finished her medications, she rang the ‘end of treatment’ bell at the hospital. She laughed, danced, blew bubbles, and celebrated all the challenges that she had overcome.

Addison is now able to go out into public spaces, and her family has booked in for their first Camp Quality Family Camp. They are looking forward to meeting other families and spending time together, healing and reconnecting.