Our story

The whole story

On May 13, 2020, our six-year-old son Dylan was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. Nothing — no parenting book, no hospital ward, no amount of love — can prepare you for those words. Days later, a wonderful consultant sat down with us and said, gently: "You're already doing all you can."

It felt strange to be told that, standing up now for two parents who were watching their son in that bed. We wanted to do more. So we asked the question that changed our family's path: what can food do for him?

While Dylan was in hospital, staff offered sugar — sweets, fizzy drinks, whatever might tempt him to eat. We knew that wouldn’t serve his growing body or his treatment. So we researched, we learned and we cooked. We filled Dylan with goodness, every meal, every day.

And Dylan responded, in the way he answered everything in life: brilliantly. His blood work stayed strong, month after month. He had energy to spare. He grew. And — the thing that mattered most to him — he kept playing the football he loved, for extra months, with his extra energy and strength.

We can't promise any family a cure; food alone can't change the course of cancer, and we'd never pretend otherwise. But we saw with our own eyes what nourishing a child can do for how they feel, every single day of treatment.

Now, as a family, we're passionate about helping others on this journey. The Dylan Strong Foundation exists so that every family facing childhood cancer has the nutrition, guidance and support we had to build for ourselves — in hospital, at home and through the school holidays.

That's Dylan's lega. That's how he keeps on being a superhero.

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