{"id":10656,"date":"2025-10-24T14:33:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=10656"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:33:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:33:29","slug":"little-fighter-from-the-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/little-fighter-from-the-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Hazel\u2019s story: little fighter from the farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six-year-old Hazel is no stranger to hard work.<\/p>\n

Growing up on her mum\u2019s dairy farm near Echuca, she\u2019s used to early mornings and muddy boots. But when Hazel started complaining of tummy pain, Mum April couldn’t imagine where it might lead them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was unwell Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday night I just knew something wasn\u2019t right and called an ambulance\u201d, April says.<\/p>\n

Doctors couldn\u2019t identify the problem, but April, a single mum and full-time dairy farmer, trusted her instincts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pushed for blood tests and thank goodness I did. Her infection levels were dangerously high.\u201d<\/p>\n

A CRP (or C-reactive protein) blood test checks for inflammation in the body and can signal infections. A normal CRP level is less than 5mg\/L, but Hazel\u2019s was 511mg\/L.<\/p>\n

By Thursday morning, Hazel was being flown to The Royal Children\u2019s Hospital (RCH) in an air ambulance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember looking out the window and pointing out Uncle Brend\u2019s place to Hazel, she was, understandably, not in the mood,\u201d April recalls. \u201cAll I could think was, \u2018Who\u2019s going to milk the cows?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Back home, April\u2019s family rallied the local community. Neighbours and friends stepped in to milk the cows and tend to the farm during one of the busiest times of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole dairy industry really came together. I was on the phone every day with Mum and Dad, but people just showed up for us. It was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the RCH, Hazel was admitted to the Platypus ward. Her condition was serious and she needed urgent surgery to remove her appendix. She spent three and a half weeks in hospital, undergoing two different surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot for a little country kid who\u2019s used to the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Hazel found moments of joy and connection. She formed a special bond with \u2018Kiwi Emma\u2019, a nurse on Platypus.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe still talks about how amazing Emma was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hazel was also thrilled to win two prizes on the hospital\u2019s own TV game show, Hospital Lingo.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was chuffed. We even played with a couple of the nurses one day, that was a real highlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Looking back, April is grateful she trusted her gut.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019d gone home that night, I don\u2019t know what would\u2019ve happened. I really feel for parents who can\u2019t speak up. I had a bit of an advantage being from a dairy background, I recognised some of the medications and signs from treating sick calves. But now I always tell people: you know your kids. Speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hazel\u2019s still recovering, but she\u2019s home now and slowly getting back to farm life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know when you\u2019re going to need the RCH,\u201d April says. \u201cBut when you do, they\u2019re there, and they\u2019re amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From muddy boots to hospital beds, her journey from farm life to surgery shows the power of parental instinct and community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7062,"featured_media":10664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8971,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7062"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10665,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656\/revisions\/10665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}