Lara the sparkly WARRIOR

When the Yaroslavce family’s life was shattered after their little girl’s shock diagnosis, they found a safe space at Ronald McDonald House at Westmead

- Claudia Siron

As our family gathered on the lounge, we gazed at our little Lara, then four, dancing in her sparkly dress to Frozen’s ‘Let it Go’.

‘Yay!’ my husband, Matthew, then 29, and I clapped.

Our sons Eli, then three, and Leo, eight months, sat on our laps, eyeing their big sister, the pretty princess, pirouette across the room.

It was June 2021, and our family was full of joy.

Then in July, Lara’s day care called one lunchtime.

‘She’s tired and keeps asking to lie down,’ a teacher explained, so I went to pick her up.

Lara was sleepy and pale.

She must’ve caught a bug, I thought, laying her in bed at home.

The next day, she seemed fine, so I sent her back to school, only to pick her up at midday again.

The following day, Lara was excited for her weekend ballet lesson.

However, during her class, she seemed upset.

‘Mummy, I can’t dance, my legs hurt!’ she cried.

Carrying Lara to the car, as I buckled her up, I realised she was bleeding from both nostrils.

There was some bruising on her legs and face too.

Having studied nursing, my stomach dropped.

What if it’s leukaemia? I worried, knowing bruising was a symptom.

At a doctor’s appointment, the doc did a finger prick on my girl to check her blood sugar. But her finger wouldn’t stop bleeding.

Knowing leukaemia could cause excessive bleeding, I was anxious.

‘I’m really concerned,’ the GP said, sending her for blood tests.