When Brandan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia last year it felt like everything else in his life “went away in an instant”.
The 17-year-old was forced to move from Cairns to Brisbane for Leukaemia treatment and being separated from his friends, family and twin sister was devastating.
But while Brandan’s cancer journey was just starting, Millie’s was coming to a close more than 2000km away.
The 16-year-old from Sydney was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2023 and wrapped up six months of gruelling treatment earlier this year.
Her cancer journey was made more complex by her ADHD, severe dyslexia, and anxiety diagnoses but Millie faced every challenge head-on.
More than 20,000 Australians live with the long-term impacts of childhood cancer, with up to 80 per cent experiencing lasting physical, psychological or social challenges.
About one in three survivors have to repeat a year of school due to treatment-related interruptions and it can seriously affect their dreams for the future.
That’s where the Dare to Dream Scholarship comes in, offering Australians aged 13 to 18 up to $5000 in funding to rebuild their futures during or after a cancer journey.
It’s the kind of money that will help Brandan pursue his passion for film, while Millie kickstarts her own small business.
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Forced to move 1600km from home
Brandan was 16 when he received his diagnosis and had to relocate to Brisbane for cancer treatment.
He’s been living almost 16000km from home ever since and is painfully aware of how costly his cancer journey has been for his whole family in the cost of living crisis.
“It can be very stressful financially, like no matter how much you have saved up, you’re gonna lose a lot of money,” he said.
Unable to go to school and feeling isolated, Brandan has struggled.
But he’s also found new purpose through his passion for film and photography, which he’s really embraced while undergoing treatment.
“It’s good to have a passion when times do get tough,” he said.
That passion led to him landing multiple segments on Juiced TV, a hospital entertainment program made by kids, for kids.
It was also the driving force behind his application for the Dare to Dream Scholarship.
But he never thought he’d actually win.
Now, with an extra $5000 in his bank account, Brandan has big plans for his future.
He intends to spend the cash on a “good laptop for school” which he’ll take with him next year, when he hopes to start a media course at TAFE.
“I’ve missed out on a lot, like school and opportunities, and this scholarship just opens up a lot more for me,” he said.
The 17-year-old is especially excited by the prospect of starting TAFE and getting to socialise with groups of like-minded young people after so many months of isolation.
With his cancer treatment slated to end in late 2026, Brandan has his sights set on pursuing a film and media career in the near future.
It’s a heartening goal after so many months of taking life one day at a time.
‘It’s not over when you ring the bell’
Across state lines, Millie is approaching one year cancer-free and looking to the future.
She underwent six months of intense chemotherapy and marked the end of her treatment by ringing a bell at the hospital in Sydney where she was treated.
But that wasn’t the end of her cancer journey.
”It’s not over when you ring the bell,” she told 9news.
“It’s a long, long process of getting better. I’m still not at school full time … I’m going for tests every few months, it’s not like everything’s back to normal.”
The hardest part is that she looks like a healthy teenager on the outside even though her mind and body are still reeling from intensive cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy left Millie with no hair and being isolated for months on end, unable to attend school or see friends, took a toll on her mental health.
Even now, almost a year after finishing treatment, she’s struggling to cope.
“You would think the actual cancer or the treatment part would be the hardest thing, but the recovery has been the hardest thing,” she said.
“It’s hard when you’re a teenager, because you think ‘I should be able to do this’ … it’s a lot of little steps forward and big leaps back.”
But the 16-year-old won’t let that stop her from planning for the future.
She has big dreams of starting her own clothing line making accessible hoodies for teens going through a cancer journey.
The $5000 Dare to Dream Scholarship will help her make those dreams a reality.
“When I was in the hospital system they had a bunch of accessible clothes for children, for accessing ports and things like that, but none for teenagers,” she said.
“I had to get a new wardrobe just so they’d be able to access my collarbone, which is where my port was.”
They will also feature charms on the hoods’ drawstrings so neurodivergent teens like her have something to fidget with when they feel anxious or overstimulated.
It’s just one small way Millie hopes to support other young Aussies facing a cancer journey like hers.
