At 12-years-old Laylah Smith has received the news no child should have to hear - she has incurable and inoperable brain cancer.
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The Camden Haven community is rallying behind Laylah and her family through a fundraiser 'A Day for Laylah' on Saturday, September 14 at Laurieton United Services Club.
Laylah's parents Kiera Mercer and Jarrod Smith grew up in the Camden Haven, before relocating to the Gold Coast in 2005.
Kiera initially took Laylah to the doctor in May this year, after she noticed her walking had been off balance and she had been suffering from dizziness and headaches.
While all the blood tests came back clear, Kiera insisted Laylah did an emergency MRI scan.
"She looked different when I looked into her eyes," she said.
"As a mum you can tell when something is just not right with your beautiful children," she said.
Laylah underwent the MRI scan that night and later in the evening Kiera got the phone call that every parent dreads to receive. It was from the neurosurgeon at the Brisbane Children's Hospital.
He asked Kiera to bring Laylah into the emergency ward the following morning.
"I begged him to tell me it was nothing bad," Kiera said.
"He just repeatedly said 'we'd like to discuss with you face to face'."
Kiera called Laylah's dad who was working in Darwin at the time.
"I cried and cried and cried. I told him it wasn't good," she said.
The following morning Kiera, Laylah and Laylah's nan went to the hospital. They were scared to find out the result of the scan.
"All I remember from that day are the heartbreaking words diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), inoperable and incurable," Kiera said.
"The rest was a blur. I remember just feeling numb."
When Laylah began her radiation treatment the family travelled to Brisbane each day for six weeks.
Kiera gave birth to a boy, Laylah's brother, four weeks after Laylah started treatment.
"I'll never forget walking into that radiation room, holding him tightly in my arms while I watched Laylah with a mask over her face being screwed down to the bed," she said.
"That is something no mother should ever have to see and no child should ever have to go through."
Kiera has praised Laylah's strength and courage throughout her treatment.
"From the minute she was diagnosed, she has powered through everything thrown at her with unbelievable determination and we couldn't be prouder of her," she said.
Laylah continues to smile each day, despite being confined to a wheelchair after her diagnosis throughout radiation, losing half of her hair, gaining over 10kg due to steriod medication and having her body now covered in stretch marks.
Kiera said the family continues to pray each day for a miracle to help Laylah.
Laylah's extended family members including her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandfather live in the Camden Haven region. Kiera said Laylah would move to her favourite place in 'a heartbeat'.
The fundraiser on Saturday, September 14 is on from 4pm at Laurieton United Services Club.
For more information please visit the event's A Day for Laylah Facebook page.
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