Mates’ support vital for family

There was no chance of wiping the smile off Kayla Robinson’s face when she came home to friends, family and the Leschenault community after nearly 12 months of treatment for bone cancer in Perth.

There was even less chance of getting her off her brand new quad bike donated by the Millard Marine and Motorcycle Centre.

“The smile on her face says enough, ” Kayla’s dad Jamie Robinson said.

“She has been itching to get out there and just be a kid again.”

In 2013, Kayla was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in her left fibula.

Kayla and her mum Tracey Hastings have spent most of the past year living at Ronald McDonald House in Perth.

While she was undergoing chemotherapy and several surgeries, community groups Gardie’s Mates and the Ulysses Motorcycle Club ran fundraising campaigns for the family.

Before her diagnosis Kayla’s bedroom was damaged by water and the family home was in need of repair.

Gardie’s Mates rallied to the cause to renovate the house so Kayla could come home to a brand new bedroom.

Mr Robinson said the family would have been struggling to make ends meet without the community’s support.

“Tracey has been with her all the way and had to give up her job as an aged carer, ” Mr Robinson said.

“We wouldn’t have been able to get through this without them — it would have been financially crippling.”

On June 21, Gardie’s Mates will hold Gardstock Music Festival at the Bunbury Turf Club from 6pm to help South West families with sick kids.