For one-year-old Eli Coulter, life-saving treatment for his leukaemia was made possible with the help of his south coast NSW community.
When the residents of Moruya heard that the baby had been diagnosed with the rare Philadelphia chromosome cancer gene and needed urgent bone marrow transplant surgery, they came to the rescue.
The community, based about 300 kilometres south of Sydney, raised well in excess of the $20,000 target for his family to cover the travel and living expenses.
In June, Eli and his mother Dakota Edsea moved to Sydney for the treatment, leaving behind his father Jesse Coulter and two-year-old brother Noah at home.
Ms Edsea said the family's long-distance relationship over the past four months has been a major challenge.
"It's harder on Noah because when he talks to me on the phone he sometimes gets a bit angry because I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks, but he's so young that he doesn't understand why we've had to leave," she said.
Burden eased
The family's concerns have been greatly eased by the community's online fundraiser, which has covered the food and petrol costs.
"We wouldn't be able to be up here full time if it wasn't for that money, and it's especially helpful as we recently bought our house and now aren't forced to sell it," Ms Edsea said.
She said the level of community support has been "overwhelming" and has brought on "lots of happy tears".
One of the donations to the family was $1,000 from the Moruya Country Markets in September.
Market secretary Kay Nash said there was no hesitation to donate.
"We knew they were doing it tough and having to be away from the rest of the family is very hard from any mum."
Ms Nash said it is important that something was done about the severe shortage in healthcare in the south-east.
"It's hard enough to have a sick child or a parent in your family, then to have to go away for months on end and leave the rest of your family," she said.
"So, yes, it is a region that could really do with better facilities."
Designs for the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital, slated for completion in 2025, would include increased capacity for chemotherapy treatment.
Eli is scheduled for a major operation next month, which will involve brother Noah donating his bone marrow.
The family don't expect to be living together again until early 2023. But once home, Ms Edsea and Eli will still need to make the eight-hour round-trip to Sydney for regular medical check-ups for the next two years.
