It’s not too late to help a year 2 student raise the country’s highest amount of money in the Jump Rope for Heart – Heart Foundation fundraiser before the July 6 cut off.
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Cian Gollner is being treated for a rare form of cancer and had open heart surgery a year-and-a-half-ago but it hasn’t stopped the the seven-year-old from becoming the second highest fundraiser in Australia.
Cian has raised $2714 so far and Orange Public School, which he attends four days a week, has raised $11,539, with all money going to Heart Foundation research and health projects.
Cian’s mother Lisa Gollner said she put the call for donations on her Facebook page and emailed family members, and as a result people who’ve been following Cian’s story have donated.
Ms Gollner said Cian is highly competitive and the wish to excel as a fundraiser is in his character.
His father Dominic Walsh said Cian is also dedicated to putting all his effort into everything he sets his heart to and sometimes it’s a matter of getting him to stop and rest.
“I feel like I should be first because everyone is helping me but I think that if there is someone else that has heart cancer they should be first,” Cian said.
“It’s important to help the Heart Foundation so we can raise money to get higher technology to help people with sick hearts get healthy again.”
VIDEO: Orange Public School’s year 2 Scarlet class showing off their skills ...
Cian was airlifted to Sydney in October 2016 after Ms Gollner took him to Orange hospital.
“He had a blockage [in his heart], I took him to emergency, he was presenting with strange symptoms, Orange [health workers] said ‘this looks very strange’,” Mrs Gollner said.
“They flew him to Westmead [hospital] they could see something that shouldn’t be there so they performed open-heart surgery and they found a cancerous tumour.”
The tumour was removed but Cian still takes chemotherapy tablets everyday to make sure it doesn’t regrow.
The cancer he has was identified as cardio myxofibrosarcoma, a cancer that usually affects elderly people in their extremities.
He is the youngest person recorded in the world with it and the first to have it in his heart.
“His cancer is so unusual there’s no standard protocol for him,” Ms Gollner said.
Because of that rest day he still has that energy to do that more normal kid stuff.
- Cian's mother Lisa Gollner
She said usually the type of cancer is treated by radiation but it would damage his heart so with help from the Leila Rose Foundation, who paid $10,000 for genome sequencing, he’s taking daily chemotherapy tablets until February.
“Everyday he has mild chemotherapy side-effects, because of that he attends school four days a week, Wednesdays are a rest day,” Ms Gollner said.
“Because of that rest day he still has that energy to do that more normal kid stuff.”
Mr Walsh said for Cian that means taking part in Jump Rope for Heart, ballet, modern and tap dance as well as horse riding.
To donate visit https://jumprope.heartfoundation.org.au/2018/Orange_Public_School_-_ORANGE_NSW_-_138753 before the school’s jump-off on July 6.