At the age of nine, Simon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He had to travel from Maitland to Sydney for treatment.
Simon was introduced to Camp Quality he was in hospital undergoing cancer treatment. At the time, over three decades ago, there were no facilities in the Hunter region that could provide the necessary treatment, meaning nearly two years of Simon’s life was spent in the Prince of Wales Hospital with his mum while his dad looked after his brother and three sisters, at home in Maitland.
Camp Quality provided Simon and his family with much needed support in hospital and the chance to have some breaks from cancer on Camp Quality Retreats. Later Simon’s family found out that Camp Quality ran Kids Camps just 20 minutes from his house.
Both he and his siblings could attend the exciting Camp Quality Kid’s Camps. A young farmer boy at heart, Simon recalls all the exciting activities that made him feel like a regular kid, for just the moment, like abseiling, canoeing, fishing and horse riding – just to name a few! The biggest highlight for Simon was making friendships with other kids that understand what it was like facing cancer.
