A student diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour had a day full of his favourite things, thanks to the Branxton school community.
Eight-year-old Zane Slomka was diagnosed with a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma tumour on his brain stem in October last year, less than a fortnight after his birthday.
After six weeks of radiation doctors have said there are no other treatment options available. They do not know how long he will live for.
To celebrate his bravery, Zane's school Rosary Park Catholic School in Branxton held 'Heroes Day' on Friday.
The school dressed up as heroes and celebrated all Zane's favourite things including cooking, Pokémon, fast cars, trucks and sport.
Emergency services, race car drivers and various superheros attended the special day, including a police helicopter announcing Zane as a fellow hero.
"The community hugely got behind it. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of support and offers of help. We had a big turnout today because people that aren't even in the school community just came forward after hearing Zane's story and wanted to help out," said the school's principal Sallyanne Stanbridge.
"We decided to make it a heroes day because we were so inundated with help from our emergency services, and his family wanted to acknowledge the medical team that work so closely with him."
After putting a post on Facebook asking for help on the day, Zane's mum Mary Jane Slomka said it went viral with community members and emergency service workers offering to come and help.
"The support has been amazing. It was really overwhelming at first because so many people wanted to help out and we had to say no because there was just too many people," she said.
The "all about Zane day" featured a visit from the Newcastle Knights, the Jets, Fire NSW where Zane got to put out a fire, and his favourite fast cars.
Despite losing the use of his arms, legs and speech that did not stop him enjoying the fun.
"At one point he grabbed my arms when we were in the car because he wanted to grab the steering wheel and wanted to drive," said Mrs Slomka.
"Zane doesn't really talk much but by his expression and hand signals you can see he is enjoying it so much."
There is currently no cure for Zane's condition. While there is a possibility that he may be able to take part in a trial of a new drug, this is only available in the United States and there are concerns over Zane travelling with brain swelling.
"These last few weeks have been really difficult but the support we have received means everything. Everyone has shown so much kindness toward our family and I have no words, I am just trying not to cry. It is really heart-warming to see kind people want to help out," said Mrs Slomka.
"Everyone has been so kind and thoughtful to do all this for Zane, we are just really amazed by all the community has done and I am just lost for words."
