Meet Emily
By Zoe Waters, Executive Director, Barwon Health Foundation.
When Emily Cooke was five years old, her family’s life changed.
Emily was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. Eight years later, hospital admissions, appointments and treatment have become a part of life for Emily, her parents Allison and Liam, and her brother Lucas and sister Hannah.
At our Gala Ball in July, we were privileged to share the Cooke family’s story in a short film.
There were plenty of tears and sincere admiration felt among the more than 1,000 people in the room.
Allison spoke openly about the realities of having a child who needs ongoing hospital care, and what being able to access that care close to home has meant for their whole family.
When Emily is admitted to Barwon Health’s University Hospital Geelong, which happens often, the family doesn’t have to pack up their lives and relocate to Melbourne. Allison can stay with Emily overnight and still get to work the next day. Liam sometimes creates a makeshift home office in Emily’s hospital room. They can still juggle Hannah and Lucas’s sporting commitments and siblings can have that much needed time to just be kids - together.
That is what care close to home can mean.
It doesn’t make a cancer diagnosis easier. But it can mean a family can stay together, even during a hospital visit, surrounded by their loved ones.
For Emily, local care has also meant being surrounded by people who know her. The Barwon Health team caring for her has watched her grow from a five-year-old into the independent, strong 13-year-old she is today.
Emily has also formed a special connection with Annalise, a registered music therapist through Sharing Tulli’s Smile Fund. Together, they've spent time singing Alex Warren songs, playing the keyboard or learning new lyrics, moments that have brought laughter and a sense of normality into hospital days.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. For families like the Cookes, childhood cancer isn’t confined to an awareness month. It has been part of their lives for eight years now.
Emily’s experience also shows just how far-reaching a childhood cancer diagnosis is. The whole family lives with it, through every hospital admission, every disrupted routine, and every attempt to keep life as normal as possible for everyone around them.
The Cooke Family agreed to tell their story at our Gala Ball because they want other families to raise awareness and support for quality care, delivered close to home.
Their story was shared as part of the Barwon Women’s and Children’s Appeal and our community’s ambition to strengthen women’s and children’s healthcare here in Geelong.
There is one part of Emily’s story that has stayed with me the most. It is her hopes and dreams for the future.
“I want to grow up and have a future.”
This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we stand with Emily and all children diagnosed with cancer in Australia.
