For the past three years Katoomba's Angus Olsen has captured in cartoons the precarious cancer battle that tried to kill his daughter many times, so other infants and their families world-wide could relate.
And now the former Disney cartoonist has captured the double whammy of what it's like for kids living with cancer in the face of a global pandemic.
A few days after releasing his new cartoons this month, they have gone viral with close to half a million people viewing them
In one of the cartoons, a healthy child complains about being bored and not being able to see his friends - while a child with cancer, who experiences the same situation every day during treatment, says: 'Welcome to my world'. Another healthy child wants to go out, while a cancer child stuck in hospital is scared and wants to go home.
Mr Olsen's daughter Jane, endured a year of chemotherapy treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma - a cancerous tumor that develops in the body's soft tissues, usually the muscles - at two years of age.
But that was all pre-pandemic.
"When we went through treatment there was no shortage of anything," Mr Olsen said. "Even when everyday life was normal, it was hell on earth. I cannot even imagine facing cancer therapy with a pandemic going on."
Jane, now six, has been in remission since May 2017. On a recent check-up at the hospital, security was so tight, he realised not even siblings could visit - something that was so important for Jane.
Mr Olsen's cartoons are being released through Redkite which provides counselling and financial assistance for families of children with cancer.
"Redkite contacted me to work with them on a series of comics illustrating both the similarities between lockdown and what cancer children face all the time
"While in the heat of cancer care for Jane, Redkite provided Coles food vouchers, social workers, counsellors, music therapists and lots of other little things that are kind of hard to explain why they're important. For example, there is a Redkite Diary designed to record your child's blood results for quick reference, when someone walks in asking questions while your head is in a fog from the stress of the situation."
Redkite's CEO, Monique Keighery said the raw cartoons "will make you laugh, and they'll make you cry, and we hope they make you pause to think what life would be like for a child with cancer during a pandemic"
The CEO said reliance on their service had never been greater.
"In April, the number of our support sessions delivered was 60 per cent higher than the 2019 monthly average.
See the cartoons at Redkite's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/redkitecharity/ or donate at https://www.redkite.org.au/donate.
