Eaton’s Ian Meachem is on a mission to turn his family’s pain into a positive after the loss of his son Toby

Ian Meachem is on a mission to turn his family’s pain into a positive for children’s cancer sufferers. The Eaton resident is in the process of creating a charity in memory of his son Toby, who died last year at just five years old. Toby was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in October 2019, which forced the Meachem family to relocate to Perth for treatment. Toby responded well to treatment and a year later in October 2020, the family returned to Bunbury with the expectation that the worst was behind them. “Toby’s survival rates when he was initially diagnosed were very good, when he went into remission they were close to 100 per cent,” Mr Meachem said. “A child with his lymphoma relapsing is incredibly rare. “When Toby relapsed, we knew immediately that the chances of Toby being cured were very low. “There were no children recorded in the world that had relapsed from T cell lymphoma and survived more than a few months, so we knew our chances were minimal.” Toby initially responded well to a new, intense chemo treatment and was set to have a bone marrow transplant. “We were literally days from him starting his radiation to have his bone marrow transplant, and the cancer came back, and that was the end of it,” Mr Meachem said. “We were told to go home and do what we can, make memories with Toby while we had him.” Toby died on April 2, 2021, a couple of months shy of his sixth birthday. Before Toby’s relapse, Mr Meachem had begun setting up a not-for-profit group, but the work had halted after he took some time to deal with the loss of his son. Mr Meachem said he had seen countless families in “dire circumstances” over his journey in and out of the hospital with his son and decided continuing to help those affected by children’s cancer would be an appropriate way to honour Toby, so he began the process of making the not-for-profit a registered charity. “The purpose of our charity is to improve the short term and long term impacts of cancer on children and adolescents, that is the purpose that’s written into our charitable registration, which is pending at the moment. “We want people that are supporting our charity, buying a t-shirt, donating money, whatever it is, to know that is where the money is going to go.” The organisation is expected to be signed off as a registered charity in the coming weeks and a website with merchandise, active wear and casual wear will be made live soon. Meanwhile, the Leschenault Cricket Club — of which Mr Meachem is a member — is doing its part to help raise funds and awareness for the cause. A game in which Mr Meachem’s D Grade teammates would play against other members of the club on Australia Day for the past five years was recently rebranded to Toby’s Superhero Bash. Players were encouraged to dress up in superhero costumes — one of Toby’s great loves — and funds raised from the day went towards the not-for-profit. Mr Meachem said the club had been a great support to Toby and his family over the past couple of years. “In 2019 right as the season was kicking off my son was diagnosed with cancer, and the following year and the last couple of years, the guys offered the day as a fundraiser,” he said. “My good friend Jason Shine and the club have been huge supporters of Toby and us as a family, but also they get behind every family that has its challenges.”