Five-year-old with cancer finds courage wearing high-vis like his dad
Chase Hunter, battling neuroblastoma at Perth Children's Hospital, wears a tradie-edition medical shirt designed to look like his electrician father's work gear.
Chase Hunter spent a year fighting neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer, mostly inside Perth Children's Hospital. Before his diagnosis, the five-year-old from a Pannawonica cattle station loved wide-open spaces.
A doctor discovered a hardness near his kidney during a routine checkup, and he has since completed about nine or ten rounds of treatment. Supertees, funded by Telethon, are specially designed medical garments that let nurses and doctors easily access lines and monitors through side openings.
Research shows they help children cope with the trauma of severe illness. The new tradie-edition honours WA's tradespeople.
When Chase puts on his high-vis shirt, he sees not a hospital patient but his dad the electrical coordinator. His father Matt said it brightens his day when Chase wakes up wanting to wear what he is wearing.
- 5 years old
- Child's age
- Neuroblastoma
- Cancer type
- About 9 or 10
- Treatment rounds
- Perth Children's Hospital
- Hospital location
Why it mattersSmall things can ease a child's fear during serious illness, and this one reminds Chase daily that his hero believes in him.
AustraliaTelethon's Supertees are now available to young patients across every hospital in WA, bringing psychological comfort during cancer and other severe illness treatment.
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