In March 2022, a fertility blood test that I hoped would be the first step to starting a family, instead started an almost three-year battle with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. After the initial diagnosis I underwent 6 rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant. During the transplant my body was stripped completely of my immune system, before it was slowly brought back to life thanks to a generous bone marrow donor.

I managed to begin rebuilding my strength and started to see small glimpses of the life I had before cancer. I had a colourful hen’s party organised by my best friend Caitlin, I got married to my partner of 10 years Simon, my family from the UK even came over to celebrate with us. But this happy time was unfortunately short lived.

One month after the wedding in 2023 I found out the leukaemia had returned and our only option for treatment was to travel to Singapore for a clinical trial for CAR-T therapy. Away from our family and friends, and the support system that carried us through the first time.

The treatment was not covered by Medicare, and would cost $400,000. Thankfully my family and friends shared my story, fundraising relentlessly for months, and after just 1 week we already had enough to fly over for initial testing.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into the trial and had another 5 months of chemotherapy before receiving the life changing CAR-T cells. I then flew back to Australia to receive my second Bone Marrow Transplant, this time a donation from my younger brother Ben who was a half-matched donor. Since I had already received transplant, I knew what lay ahead and that it was not going to be easy. I had barely started to recover from the first transplant and here I was getting a second one. As expected, it has been an extremely tough recovery process, and one that is still ongoing as my immune system continues to recover. But a struggle I am forever grateful for.

I took inspiration for the design from my time in hospital, longing for something other than the Kmart tights and bed socks that I wore every day.