An Adelaide family is praying for a miracle as they prepare to relocate to the US, hoping to save their five-year-old son’s life.
Just six years ago, another one of their children was struck down with meningococcal. Now, their youngest has aggressive cancer.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Adelaide family praying for a miracle as they relocate to US for sick son.
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In late 2022, Nat Nowak’s mother’s intuition told her something was off with her youngest child.
“Murphy had just had his fourth birthday,” Nat told 7NEWS. “And he became really quite unwell.”
The family took Murphy to the emergency department four times to no avail, dad Daniel Nowak said.
“(We told them) something’s wrong with my child,” Daniel said.
The eventual diagnosis was crushing. Murphy had stage four neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer.
“I just thought to myself, like, ‘this can’t be real’,” Nat said.
“Like, I don’t want to be that family again.
“You’re racking your brain. Did I miss something? Could I have found it sooner? Why me?”
It’s not the first time the Nowak family has been dealt this sort of blow.
When Murphy’s older brother Ted was five months old, he almost died from meningococcal Y and bacterial meningitis.
“I had actually been just breastfeeding him and I looked at him and I could just tell something was wrong,” Nat said.
“By the time I got to the hospital, he was lifeless and unresponsive.
“We were praying, believing for a miracle and he woke up.”
Daniel added: “We believe that miracles — they happened before with Ted, and they’ll happen again with Murphy.”
Murphy’s tiny body has already been through seven rounds of chemotherapy, stem cell transplants, surgery and radiotherapy, and soon he will undergo immunotherapy.
As a result of this treatment, Murphy has suffered permanent hearing loss, kidney damage and severe muscle wastage among other side effects.
The family is now relocating to Pennsylvania in the US for two years for a clinical trial that aims to prevent relapses.
Currently, there’s an 85 per cent chance that Murphy’s cancer will return.
“Nat and I have decided to fight for our boy,” Daniel said.
“You almost feel physical pain … watching your child go through (this),” Nat said.
“I will never forget the moment he lost his hair.”
The Nowak family plans to leave for the US in two weeks, but it all hinges on a crucial scan this coming week to determine if Murphy is in remission.
A GoFundMe page has raised almost half the money needed to help the Nowaks.
For children Calista, Hugo and Ted, it means a new country, new school and new friends.
All three say they’re hoping for a miracle for their little brother.
The family is choosing to have faith.
“Life happens,” Nat said.
“Cancer can happen to anyone. And it’s how you choose to cope.”
-With Elspeth Hussey