Baby Harris was happily enjoying his first birthday cake when, out of nowhere, he suddenly started vomiting.
At first, parents Tyler and Alix Richardson assumed their son, whom they affectionately nicknamed Hazzy, was having a bad reaction to sugar.
But over the next few weeks, little Hazzy’s condition deteriorated.
“He was a normal, happy, cheerful child,” father Tyler told FEMAIL.
“But he suddenly became very irritable and needy, and this got worse and worse over time.”
After several visits to the doctor and being told Hazzy’s symptoms were caused by a “daycare virus”, the Tasmanian couple knew something wasn’t right.
‘He was pale and he really didn’t want to be put down and he needed to be with you. “These symptoms look like a normal sick child, but they became so extreme that primary care doctors could no longer explain them,” Tyler explained.
After a biopsy, the family received the worst news imaginable. In August 2023, at just one year old, Hazzy was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer commonly found in the adrenal glands.
Baby Harris was happily enjoying his first birthday cake when, out of nowhere, he suddenly started vomiting.
“We felt absolute anguish, fear and anxiety on a level that is impossible to describe,” Tyler said, recalling the moment he learned of his son’s cancer diagnosis.
‘Everything happens at once and you feel like your world just stops. He was a one-year-old boy who until recently was doing very well.
‘I feel bad just remembering it. I don’t want anyone to have to go through that.’
Before their world was unexpectedly turned upside down, the young family of three lived a seemingly normal life.
Tyler taught at a local secondary school and was the lead singer and bassist for Tasmanian band Luca Brasi, while his wife Alix worked as a cafe manager.
In kindergarten, Hazzy loved playing with her friends and liked going to the beach.
“They nicknamed him ‘Happy Hazzy’ because he always had a big cheesy smile on his face,” the father explained.
—At first there was nothing to make him believe that he was not feeling well.
Parents Tyler and Alix Richardson noticed little Hazzy’s condition deteriorating.
The couple hosted their little one’s first birthday at home, with friends and family gathering to mark the milestone.
“Hazzy was having a great day,” Tyler recalled.
“Suddenly things changed and he started vomiting, which we initially attributed to his first big experience with chocolate birthday cake… We thought it was just a reaction to his first taste of sugar.”
“But it deteriorated a little bit from that point on.”
The parents noticed that their son’s condition was progressively worsening.
“The symptoms never went away and became more and more extreme,” he said.
‘A couple of months of visits to the doctor and no improvement led us to keep pushing for more tests because we knew something wasn’t right with him. A pediatrician sent him straight to hospital for a biopsy after a quick exam, but knew he wasn’t right.’
At just one year old, Hazzy was diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer
The couple’s world was turned upside down after they were given the worst news imaginable.
After Hazzy was diagnosed, the family had no choice but to move to Melbourne as her rare form of cancer could not be treated in Hobart.
Over the past 18 months, Hazzy has undergone multiple rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, two surgeries, two stem cell transplants and radiation therapy.
Although watching her son go through intense treatment has been heartbreaking.
“This is probably the part I’ll never recover from… the treatment for his illness is especially brutal,” Tyler explained.
‘It is a very aggressive cancer and the treatment is designed to literally reduce your body to zero in the hope that stem cell transplants can prevent it from coming back.
“Aside from the treatment itself, it’s a very isolating experience, changing states overnight, changing your entire existence and being isolated is very challenging.”
Hazzy, now two and a half years old, is handling her cancer treatments well.
“They nicknamed him ‘Happy Hazzy’ because he constantly had a big cheesy smile on his face.”
Hazzy, now two and a half years old, is currently on her fifth round of immunotherapy.
“He’s doing fantastic, it’s crazy how adaptable he is.” “He has a little backpack with his medications and he loves it, he won’t go anywhere without it,” Tyler said.
‘Hazzy is flying, has almost finished his treatment protocol and we are preparing to finally return to Tassie before Christmas with a healthy, disease-free baby boy.
“We will continue Hazzy’s preventative treatment as we move forward.”
Hazzy will soon start receiving a new medication called DFMO, which helps reduce the risk of relapse and has recently been made accessible thanks to the Neuroblastoma Australia campaign and families affected by neuroblastoma.
Tyler hopes his son Hazzy’s story will shed light on childhood cancer, with the goal of raising awareness and encouraging more research.
“This hell is something no one should have to go through, and it is through the advancement of treatment that we hope we can continue to improve conditions for children,” he said.
For parents of children suffering from cancer, Tyler said, “There is a light and someday it will shine.” You are not alone.’