A brave brother’s story

The following article was first published in the February 2008 edition of ‘Sharing’, the magazine of the Child Cancer Foundation, New Zealand (www.childcancer.org.nz).

In September 2005, 10-year old New Zealander Max McDonald’s world was turned upside down with the devastating news that his older brother Daniel had cancer. At the time of diagnosis and throughout Daniel’s operation and treatments, Max experienced many different emotions including confusion and fear about what was happening to his brother. At the age of 12, Max documented his brave story and entered it in the Commonwealth Essay Competition. It is with great pleasure that we share Max’s story, “Now, when I was your age”.

“Now, when I was your age, my brother Daniel had just gone to the optometrist because he was having a lot of trouble seeing out of his left eye. The optometrist then told him to go and see the eye specialist. The next day he went to see the specialist for some scans, which showed an obstruction (a build up of fluid in his brain causing him to lose some sight). The specialist said that Daniel needed to go to the hospital immediately. When he got home that night, Mum said that Daniel needed to be rushed to Auckland Hospital. Having to cancel appointments with friends, Mum, Dad and Daniel all left for the hospital, leaving Greg and me alone wondering what was going on and whether or not our Daniel would be okay.

Later that night, Mum’s friend Jane arrived to look after us. We had been at home for two days and now it was Sunday and we were missing our family, but today was the day that we could finally go to Auckland and see Daniel. As we left for Auckland we were hoping we could stay the night with our family, so we had our packed bags and put them in the back of the car. When we got there we were so relieved to see Mum and Dad. As we walked through the hospital my heart was pumping, questions were running through my head. Would Daniel be fine? Would he look the same? And if not, would I be able to recognise him? Suddenly the door opened I didn’t want to look but I had to. I opened my eyes slowly but his curtain was closed. As the curtain opened it seemed like time had stopped. My heart began to speed up until it got to the point it felt like it was going to explode.

When I finally got to see Daniel I didn’t like what I saw. It was scary. He had a big tube in his head. But, the good thing was that he was fine and I could still recognise him. Mum told us that he had a malignant brain tumor (a cancerous tumor) and although I did not know what this meant, I thought it sounded bad. I didn’t want Daniel to know that I was sad, so I just looked out the window at the Sky Tower. After a while I started to feel better so I decided to play cards with Daniel and Greg, which I think made everyone feel better - just because I wasn’t so sad. When we had finished playing cards I asked mum where we could sleep. Her reply was that we couldn’t stay; we had to go back to Tauranga. I felt very upset that we couldn’t stay with our brother but I gave him a big hug before we left and said that I would see him when he got better. I hoped that it would make him feel better. As we left I started to cry because I really thought I was going to lose my brother. It didn’t seem fair. Why did it have to be my brother?

On Monday I was ready to go to school but I didn’t feel right because I wanted to know what was been going on with Daniel while I was at school. I stayed at the neighbors’ house and contacted Mum in Auckland. By Wednesday I felt better so I went to school and had lots of fun with my friends. I told my teacher and friends what had happened which also made me feel better.

Now, Daniel is much better and is only having check-ups once a year. Although he will never get the all clear, he is in his second year of University studying to be an accountant.

I was ten years old when my life seemed like it was turning upside-down. This event has made me appreciate my life a whole lot more. One second you could seem fine and the next you could be in hospital facing a life or death situation.”