At 9, Rama knows life equals love

Rama Davis is gorgeous, self-assured, intelligent, articulate and can talk at length about life and death issues.
Rama is only nine, and she's a cancer survivor.
Among the things Rama appreciates about the leukaemia she has recently recovered from is that the experience reminded her how well-loved she is, what a wonderful family she has, how beautiful life is.
It's something she in turn teaches everyone she meets, because she's a special kind of kid.
People who work with very sick children will tell you they mature early and Rama is no exception. At nine, she's full of joy and childhood wonder, and as wise as a sage.
"Has dealing with leukaemia made me wiser and stronger?
"Yes. I know now that if I fall over it's no big deal. It's not the end of the world.
"But if I fall over a cliff it might be. Well, leukaemia has been like a cliff.
"The treatment hurt sometimes, but it hurt more on the inside when I found out what could happen to me if I didn't survive. I never gave up hope."
You never know how you will deal with something when it happens, says this remarkable child.
"But I think, if children out there are going to read this, and if they ever get leukaemia, they have to think about positive things and wish themselves un-sick. I really believe I did it."
She had another secret weapon in the fight.
"I knew I would survive, because I've got my Mum Joanna's genes and she's a fighter, too.
"My Mum is straight up and honest, and I really admire her. She's taught me a lot of stuff ... how to talk well, to be polite, to be a good person."
Other people she loves very much helped her back up that cliff, too.
"Can I say who they are, please?"
There's sister Micha, 19, a hairdresser who cut off Rama's hair "so it wasn't too horrible for me when I started to lose it". There's brother Eli who cut off his own long hair "for me, just to show me he loved me and supported me".
Another brother, Samuel, visited a lot when Rama was in Starship Hospital - "I actually lived at Starship for a month once."
Eden - he's the family comedian and Micha's twin - gave Rama her very own stereo for Christmas. There's eldest sister Rebecca and her nearly one-year-old child Soryah.
"And I love cuddling Hope, my other niece who's only four months old."
Then there's younger sister Anihera, eight, who doesn't live with Rama but has been her little soulmate.
"She supported me, too. She hugged me when I was crying.
"I talk to her and she talks to me about our feelings. The stuff Mum has taught me, I teach to Anihera. She's doing really well at her school, she's really positive.
"I think my having leukaemia has taught her to be better at her life in some ways."
Leukaemia equals life equals love? It does in Rama's book.
She's well now, free of the illness that was diagnosed last year, but she's been to hell and back during that survival process.
She's been sick and in pain, lost all her hair to chemotherapy (it's grown back beautifully), and has had chickenpox twice in the past few months.
"Twice!" she chuckles, shrugging off the enormity of an illness that saw her spend weeks at a time in isolation in Whangarei Hospital, the last bout only two weeks ago.
"This year I'm getting more active. I'm allowed to go outside if I've got my hat on.
"I run around and climb trees. I do all sorts of things now. I go to the movies. I go to the beach. I go in swimming."
Rama will have maintenance treatment and check-ups for years, and she still has no immune system. She is home-schooled, mainly to avoid exposure to coughs, colds and other ills.
She loves reading, is good at writing stories, and is especially clever at art. So what does the future hold?
"When I grow up, I want to be a singer or even an actress. I could be a doctor or a lawyer.
"I could babysit my niece. There's just heaps of things I could be but the one thing I really want to be is an artist.
"It's good to know I can do anything."
• Next week is Child Cancer Week.