It’s not often you hear something that stops you in your tracks — that makes you replay the words over and over in your mind. But young Tia Scott from Canning Vale has had that effect on me.
So much so that when she spoke at the Telethon Leeuwin Lunch On Swan last Sunday, I actually had to leave the room. I couldn’t trust myself not to break down and weep in such a way as to embarrass myself, my family and anyone who knows me.
I can still recall the line that caused the dam to burst in the past. It was when 18-year-old Tia, who is living with cancer (as she describes it) proclaimed: “You’re not just raising money. You’re giving kids like me reasons to keep going.”
It chokes me up even reading it now.
On Sunday, she also had this to say: “In the hospital, nights seem to last forever and sleep offers no comfort or rest. There’s machines that go beep, bloods to take, and you’re up all hours of the night with nurses coming in like clockwork to check you over. It’s a never-ending routine that drains not just your body but also your soul.
“I’ve been so tired that all I can do is sleep, vomit, repeat. I’ve stared at the same ceilings for hours during infusions”.
Then the words that laid waste to 180 of the most generous and influential people in WA. Incredible philanthropists of the ilk of the McCuskers were spellbound.
“I’ve discovered what bravery feels like, at 2am in the emergency room or at the hospital on my birthday. Bravery isn’t being unafraid; it’s doing things whilst you’re afraid.”
That is how Tia described living with cancer and, in particular, her own 5½-year battle.
She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at age 12 and, since then, has had to contend with 800 blood tests, more than 190 scans, and 13 surgical procedures. And she has done so with incredible strength and — as those of us who are mildly spiritual are wont to say — inspiring grace.
The best and brightest of WA’s business leaders and captains of industry were so moved, many were reaching for the tissues.
“At the beginning of my journey, I had to go through intensive IV chemotherapy, and following that, I needed surgery to remove the tumour. That surgery lasted 16 hours,” Tia told the crowd.
At age 13, just after ringing the bell to celebrate the end of her treatment, Tia was given the devastating news the cancer was back. That diabolical moment that the MC on the day Ryan Daniels rightly said, “stops everything”. Everything comes to a halt as you turn to face your greatest health challenge.
As Tia explained, “hearing that you have to do it all over again after being given hope was soul-crushing”.
She had to learn to walk again (for the second time) and even re-learn how to eat and drink.
It’s true, you know: sometimes superheroes reside in the hearts of the kids fighting these battles. The nurses and doctors at the Perth Children’s Hospital will tell you that.
Tia is Super Girl and Wonder Woman rolled into one.
Her words moved the people in that room on Sunday so much that WA will now have a $1 million adolescent and youth cancer service at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. The first of its kind in Australia, it will bridge the gap that has been identified for adolescents once they “age out” of the children’s hospital.
And the money was raised in just three minutes, such was the power of Tia’s story and the way she spoke for all teenagers suffering in silence.
BHP’s WA iron ore boss Tim Day rose to pledge a $400,000 donation as other arms lifted everywhere to bring the final amount to $600,000. To the son of a post-war new Australian, it was almost a miraculous scene.
If I was to describe the mood in the room, it would have been this: living — really living — is when you do something for someone who can never repay you. It’s the essence of giving, I guess.
Tia told us of the heartbreak of leaving behind a support network that sowed positivity during her darkest moments.
“What has always helped me through is the people around me,” she said.
“The nurses, doctors, oncologists, radiologists, and allied health staff who cared for me, not just as a patient but as a person, and then there are the organisations that reminded me that I was still a teenager in the middle of all of this. Livewire, Clown Doctors, Kids Cancer Support Group, Kyle’s Camp, Canteen and so many others gave me moments where cancer wasn’t the only thing defining my life.
“They gave me laughter, friendships, support, and a sense of normalcy in a time where I had anything but.”
Channel 7 Telethon Trust chair Richard Goyder has often spoken of the power of Telethon and the community behind it.
Years ago, then-Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes decided to set a larger goal for Telethon, beyond raising money.
“The ambition for Telethon was to change the attitude of everybody who lives in this State,” he said.
Tia is a beautiful, wonderful, profound example of that.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.
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