My cancer experience really started in July 2005 when my little sister Marnie tripped over a tent peg and hurt her ankle. At the time we all thought she had only twisted or sprained her ankle – but it didn’t heal.

Marnie was in pain; she slept all the time, wasn’t eating and cried in her sleep. We took her to the local doctor who did some x-rays, however the results showed no broken bones which in their minds meant there was nothing wrong.

"At one stage Marnie was on several different painkillers."

It was at this point when mum said “I can’t just sit here and watch my daughter turn into a junkie (mum feared that Marnie would become addicted to the medication). There is obviously something wrong!”

After Marnie had been suffering for two months, mum took her to Adelaide to see the specialists in September. Shortly after their visit to the hospital Marnie was diagnosed with the correct problem – cancer!

"Finding out that my little sister, the one person I should have been able to protect, had cancer - it was the hardest and one of the most memorable events in my life."

I wasn’t supposed to find out about it when I did. It was the week before I was due to go to Japan on exchange with my school and my parents weren't going to tell me yet. But I overheard my dad telling my uncle on the phone before he went to work.

I was left to ponder the situation. Five years earlier my nana had passed away from cancer, which lead me to think that I was going to lose Marnie as well. That night I cried myself to sleep, and the next day I cried the whole way to school.

"Once I got to school, I went straight to one of the teachers so that someone would know exactly what was going on."

Telling the teacher helped and I was able to calm down and stop crying – until the usual morning ritual of hugs and greetings from my friends. Then the tears came up to say their first hello to the people who would witness and experience my pain many times over the next year.

"In the end I went on exchange to Japan."

While it was at the worst possible time, it was an amazing experience (even if I didn’t want to go after finding out about Marnie). Being so far away from home, not knowing what was going on and not being able to talk to them and hug them every day was hard, but I coped by some miracle.

And Marnie is still with us today in 2010.