Teenager Reclaiming Best Years
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday December 8, 2007
TEENAGE years are supposed to be the best of your life, but for Madeline Masters they have been the worst.
The Towradgi 15-year-old has spent the past two years battling to stay alive after a brain aneurysm went undiagnosed for more than eight months.While her friends enjoyed the fun times of high school, Madeline could barely get out of bed due to excruciating headaches.She couldn't eat or talk properly and wasted away to 42kg, while her eyesight and memory also deteriorated.Scared she was losing her daughter, mum Lana took Madeline to doctor after doctor desperate for answers. She was finally diagnosed late last year and underwent immediate surgery.However, the suffering did not stop there.Infections and other complications meant three more operations and countless nights in hospital.Madeline has begun to recover in the past few months and will start Year 11 at Cedars Christian College in January after two years off school.Although the shy teenager is humble about her bravery and courage, it did not go unnoticed by the Starlight Foundation, which recently sent Madeline and her family on a week-long holiday to the Gold Coast.It not only fulfilled Madeline's wish but also that of her mum - to bring life back to her daughter."It taught her to smile again, to have fun and to be a kid," Mrs Masters said. "Any kid that's sick like that has so much pressure on them in so many different ways and to have that release of pure delight and excitement just lets them be a kid again."The Starlight Foundation grants about 500 wishes each year.But the children's charity still has more than 100 wishes it hopes to grant by Christmas.To donate visit www.starlight.org.au or phone 1300 727 827.
© 2007 Illawarra Mercury