Canberra teenager Tamara Kazoulis knew it was serious when the doctor said 'leukemia'.
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But the gravity of her new reality didn't sink in until she was high above Canberra, being airlifted to Sydney to begin immediate treatment.
"The feeling of it was definitely shock," Kazoulis said.
"I didn't really know what was going on at the time and as I was being airlifted up I realised that the severity was probably a bit extreme.
"I knew something was wrong with me but I didn't get anything done til a few weeks later when it kind of got a little bit worse.
"The blood test which they had given me indicated that I had leukemia. They suggested immediate attention to it, they offered that either I could go to Sydney or stay here in Canberra, but I didn't have a lot of time, so I said Sydney and that was before the flight up."
Kazoulis spent nine months in hospital fighting the disease. Her older brother George provided a perfect match for a bone marrow donation, and she has been in remission since.
On Saturday she will flip the bat in the Sydney Sixers' Big Bash match against the Hobart Hurricanes.
Sixers players will each where a jersey with three words printed on the back, given to them by a cancer patient. Those jerseys will then be auctioned off to raise money for the Sony Foundation's You Can Stay campaign, which provides accommodation for cancer patients from regional NSW who are required to travel to Sydney for treatment.
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Every $100 raised by the Sixers this weekend translates to another night of accommodation for someone battling cancer.
"Perspective's everything," Sixers star Josh Philippe said.
"There's certainly been some challenges involved [in this season's Big Bash] but you can't even compare it to these guys.
"They have it so tough, they're a similar age to me and they've gone through these incredibly tough times."
FOR MORE INFORMATION HEAD TO www.sonyfoundation.org/YouCanStay
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
