Queensland mother-of-three Georgia Carmichael never imagined having to ask strangers online for help — especially when it came to money. But with her youngest child in and out of hospital and her husband juggling life as a FIFO worker away from home, she had reached a tipping point. Her boy, Malakai, aged four, lives with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disorder causing progressive muscle degeneration, and his short life has been filled with hospital visits and medical treatments.
and education cover. “Not much overlaps,” she said. Without generous donations, Malakai’s mother told 7NEWS.com.au “we wouldn’t have survived”. The , and eventually had to source one herself. The South Australian lives with chronic rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia and has endured significant joint pain since she was 12. She struggles to even walk between rooms in her home. Cassar realised her wheelchair was finally done while having steering trouble on the train. “One of my wheels is totally borked. It looks like the bearings cracked and were lost somewhere,” she said in an appeal for contributions on GoFundMe.
have not helped that progress either. She said she’s not angry with the shortfalls so far this year, with NSW and Queensland rounding out the top three.