Source : Perth Now news
Meet Paige McKay — little miss sunshine.
With a smile bright enough to light up a room — this bubbly eight-year-old is a real ray of sunshine.
But behind her dazzling smile and infectious laugh is a little girl who has weathered storms most adults could never imagine.
And now, after years of fighting through the darkest days, Paige has a new reason to shine.
Last week, surrounded by her family at Perth Children’s Hospital, Paige discovered she had been chosen as a 2026 Little Telethon Star.
And when she saw her very own personalised star, there was no mistaking just how much the news meant.
Her face lit up, she turned straight to Mum and Dad and, in true Paige fashion, she jumped for joy.
“I’m really excited to be a Telethon star,” Paige said.
Paige’s bubbly, giggly nature is so infectious, her smile so constant, that it is almost impossible to believe she has ever heard bad news.
But when Paige was just five, she was told she had a brain tumour.
Since then, every day has been a fight for survival, but Paige’s armour of choice has remained the same — a smile.
Her journey began with the loss of fine motor skills in her right hand.
Her parents, Amy and Leif, were concerned, but were initially told it was not unusual for five-year-old’s to still be figuring out which hand they preferred.
Then her right leg became weak, she struggled to play sport and she began suffering from morning sickness.
An urgent MRI finally revealed the devastating cause.
Paige had a Pilocytic Astrocytoma — a brain tumour the size of an orange that was affecting one of her ventricles and causing a dangerous build-up of fluid.
For the McKays, their world went dark.
“Not long after the scan began, the room flooded with people and my heart sank,” Ms McKay said.
“A doctor came in and delivered the words I did not want to hear, ‘I’m so sorry, your daughter has a brain tumour’.”
What followed was a blur of emergency brain surgeries, shunts, a port insertion and chemotherapy.
But even as the family fought to keep their little girl alive, the tumour seemed to worsen.
It began growing at an exponential rate, crushing both ventricles and forcing doctors to rush Paige into a third emergency brain surgery.
Two years ago the McKays’ feared their little light was about to go out when doctors told them they did not think Paige would survive.
“She’s been right to the brink and that poor little girl has fought her way back tooth and nail,” Ms McKay said.
“It’s been the most traumatic, awful two years so far.”
Then, a glimmer of hope came from across the world.
A clinical trial in the US offered Paige a chance — and the treatment has proved to be the breakthrough the McKays had desperately hoped for.
Paige remains on the trial today.
Alongside ongoing occupational, physio and speech therapy, her condition has stabilised and the tumour has reduced in size.
“She has her moments where it’s, ‘mummy, I wish I didn’t have cancer’ and that just breaks your heart,” Ms McKay said.
“But then she’ll just smile and she’ll attack the next task.
“She’s progressing and she has gone from that brink to where she is, where you see her right now and it’s just, you can’t tell. It is a completely different situation now. She’s a true inspiration.”
The little girl who once faced a future confined to a wheelchair is now strong enough to walk without one and has even returned to school.
Throughout her journey, Paige has become a familiar face at PCH, particularly in the Starlight Express Room.
It was there she found moments of fun and laughter when life was anything but.
She went from being a fan of the Starlight Captains to becoming a star herself, and now Paige is ready to bring a little more sunshine to Telethon.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? What a privilege. What an experience for her,” Ms McKay said.
“She’s been looking forward to finding out who the telethon kids are for weeks. She’s been asking and asking. I would really like to see that footage of her face because I’m pretty sure it was incredible.”
While Paige has proved she is a survivor, she has never needed to prove her love for hoola hoops, unicorns and all things pink.
Both Paige and her mum agreed the Telethon weekend highlights will be making new friends and playing lots of games.
“Paige is just such the sweetest little caring girl,” Ms McKay said.
“She loves absolutely everybody, she wants to be everyone’s friend and she just wants to be happy and play.”
The road ahead is still uncertain, but if anyone can light the way, it is Paige.
After coming so close to losing their little ray of sunshine, the McKays now get to watch her take her place among the stars this October 17 and 18 at Telethon.
“We are so proud, she is such an inspiration for us and for everybody, she’s made us all so much better,” Ms McKay said.
