Life's a ball for cancer-free Brianna

By Lauren Owens
Life is a laugh for Tauranga girl Brianna Newlove since she overcame leukemia two years ago.
Now kids just like Brianna, 3, who have overcome cancer are using their experiences to help others through it.
Brianna and her mum Sheryl Newlove spent yesterday morning at Chipmunks Playland at the Child Cancer Foundation's first outing for kids under 10 years old.
The outing was spent meeting families who have lived or are living with the disease and to celebrate the foundation's reception of an $11,500 donation from Ballance.
Brianna was diagnosed with leukemia when she was only nine months old and after chemotherapy she has been in remission for two years.
"She loves the swings," her mum said as she pushed the grinning youngster.
Mrs Newlove said that having the support of Child Cancer Foundation when Brianna was in treatment was "fantastic" and it really made the difference to both of them.
"They were just there for us, there was someone to talk to."
Her seven-year-old son, Alex, had missed out on a lot of time with his mum while she stayed with Brianna in Auckland at Starship Hospital and didn't fully understand what was going on during that time, Mrs Newlove said.
"I was away on his first day of school," she said.
The Child Cancer Foundation made it possible for them to keep in touch on the phone and for her son and her husband to travel to Auckland.
Now she and other mothers such as Dianne Wirihana can offer support to parents of cancer patients in Tauranga.
"I didn't know what to expect," Mrs Newlove said.
Ms Wirihana agreed, saying her nine-member family felt the pressure of separation and of financial strain when her son was diagnosed five years ago with cancer at just 10 years of age.
"When he was diagnosed we decided that we were all diagnosed with it," she said.
The family had been through the pain of cancer twice, after her husband passed away last May to the same disease.
Her now 15-year-old son had been out of treatment for 3 1/2 years but Ms Wirihana continued with the foundation's activities to provide support to others.
The Child Cancer Foundation currently worked to provide support to 45 families in Tauranga, helping them with travel money for the second parent to Auckland, phone cards and meals.
They also donated money to Ronald McDonald House, where parents stayed while their children were treated at Starship Children's Hospital.
Child Cancer Foundation family support, Debbie Hockly, said three months' solid treatment were often needed before the parent could come back to Tauranga to see the rest of the family and treatment might be spread over three years.
"It's about keeping families in contact with each other ... there's a lot of isolation," Ms Hockly said.
The foundation would be assisted greatly by the $11,500 donation raised by Ballance.
The cheque was presented at Chipmunks yesterday by Ballance general manager of sales and marketing, Graeme Smith.
"It was fantastic to raise so much money, we were well supported by business suppliers," he said.