You know what hope is? Hope is a bastard.
It's hard now to connect that first moment, when we first heard the news, with everything that happened later. Mikayla has liver cancer. It seems serious, but she's just a little girl. A child full of cheek and wonder. There's a battle ahead, but she'll pull through. She has to. A lot of life left, yet.
The whole thing ultimately takes something like 100 days, and it's worst case scenario at every step. Mikayla is six, and hepatoblastoma is rare in children older than three. The problem is exacerbated by tumours in her lungs, which must be defeated before a liver transplant can be performed. Two separate chemotherapy plans produce no positive result.
A miracle cure seems a lot to hope for. Hell, the odds were stacked against her getting sick at all. The stars already aligned, but in the wrong order; surely 'miraculous' is now in limited supply. But faith is a powerful thing, and, around the world, people are praying for Mikayla. 'The more the better,' her father says.
During the coming months Mikayla's story seems to broaden the parameters of human hope and compassion. 3AW morning talkback radio host Neil Mitchell learns of her fear, not of death, but of being forgotten, and is moved. From that moment on, Mikayla's illness, usually a personal matter, is played out in a public way.
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Hope is a liar, a cheat and a tease.
First, though, social media comes into its own. A Facebook support page eventually attracts nearly 4500 members. Mikayla's family tacks updates, confessions of anger, grief and hope, to Facebook's wall, and scores of friends from near and far respond instantly. 'Like' becomes shorthand for 'I hear you, feel for you, am thinking of and praying for you'.
Facebook facilitates the formation of a Cancer Council Relay For Life squad; Team Mikki goes on to raise more than $6000 towards cancer research. Former strangers meet for the first time on that track. A plush caterpillar named Carl serves both as the team's baton, and as a symbol of the love and concern they share for the sick girl and her family.
After plans for 'one last family trip' to Queensland fall through due to the health