Margot Robbie wins over four-year old Barbie-obsessed cancer patient
By Victoria Owens|
Five-year-old Lucy Galvin is obsessed with Barbies.
In fact, she has almost every Barbie doll you can think of, including one extra special one called chemo-Barbie.
Because unlike most Barbie-obsessed five-year-olds, Lucy has spent the last two years in and out of chemotherapy for an aggressive cancer that affects young children.
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The disease was first discovered by her mother Sarah one night while dressing her for bed.
She tells 9honey Parenting: "I saw a lump on her rib cage as she put her arms up to put pyjamas on, it just caught my eye, like that split second."
That split second discovery marked the start of what would become a two year battle for Lucy and her family.
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Oncologists revealed the worst, that Lucy had Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive type of bone cancer.
Sarah said doctors wanted to start chemotherapy immediately because they were worried Lucy would only have a 30 percent chance of surviving the next five years.
Sarah says while the news was devastating, they had no idea the worst was yet to come.
"Once you start the chemo, you're not fighting the cancer, you're fighting the symptoms of what the chemotherapy is doing to them."
"The amount of times Lucy nearly died from treatment, not from cancer, is very scary and there've been a lot of kids that have died from the treatment [because] this is just what it does to their bodies."?
The side-effects from Lucy's treatment were relentless.
"She was so sick and in so much pain, we were in hospital all the time," Sarah says.
After countless rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and having three ribs removed that the tumour had attached to, they thought perhaps Lucy might be in the clear.
But the effects had left the now four-year-old struggling to breathe.
Sarah says she had "pulmonary hypertension", a potentially fatal heart and lung condition which can lead to heart failure.
Doctors gave Lucy an oxygen tube and tank which she needed by her side for five months, before her heart function miraculously returned to normal.
Sarah says it's been a rollercoaster but Lucy has proved to be much stronger than they ever anticipated.
"We've come close to losing her so many times, but she somehow keeps surviving everything that's thrown at her."
"She takes it all in her stride and really just gets on with it, I don't know where she finds her strength."
Her strength is only matched by her enthusiasm, Sarah says.
"The staff, the nurses, the doctors, even the receptionists, she won them all over and they were just so great with her."
But while she was used to winning everyone over with her gorgeous personality, there was one person who won her over on a day she least expected it.?
"We'd arrived at the hospital to do chemo and as we walked in, we were told Margot Robbie was upstairs."
Watch video above.
"So we rushed straight up and they saw Lucy in her little, pink, sparkly dress and we got taken right in front of Margot's stage."
Lucy got to speak with the Hollywood actress as well as have a cuddle and a photo together, which felt like a divine intervention for the Barbie-loving four-year old.
"Margot asked her a couple of questions like 'what's your favourite toy' and of course, Lucy said Barbie and everyone laughed and thought that was great."
But while Lucy wasn't quite convinced Robbie was the real Barbie, she was in awe of the moment they had together and has since "seen the movie about 100 times".?
That's possible because Lucy is now back home, cancer free and living her best life as a five-year-old, starting kindergarten.
But while Lucy might be diving head first into her new life away from hospital, Sarah worries they're "not out of the woods" yet.
"Her type of cancer is very aggressive and there's a 70 per cent chance it's going to come back."
But Sarah says her odds of survival are looking better thanks to the research and testing by the Children's Cancer Institute (CCI).
In what's called "precision medicine", oncologists have matched certain medications to Lucy's genes to help target and stop the cancer from growing in future.
"If the cancer does come back, they can put her back on the drug immediately while we discuss what to do next," Sarah says.
She also said the program meant they saved a lot on Lucy's treatment.
"With Lucy specifically and her treatment, if we had to pay for it, it would have been $10,000 a month and that was just for one of the five drugs she was on - and we didn't have to pay a cent because of them [CCI]."
So now Sarah and her family are raising money to support the Childhood Cancer Institute with the 86K for Cure challenge - an 86 kilometre run during the month of March.
"We're benefitting from the research that people have donated to in previous years. If your child gets diagnosed next year, you'll need the research that's happening now."
Today is International Childhood Cancer Day, Lucy's family are sharing their story in support of Children's Cancer Institute '86k for a Cure' which raises vital funds for childhood cancer research. You can register or donate at 86kforacure.org.au
