Two girls, aged seven and five, face an uncertain future after both their mother and father are diagnosed with stage four cancer.
Gold Coast couple Claire and Aaron Groot have been married for 10 years and are fighting not only for their lives, but also to provide for their daughters.
The children are too young to understand what their parents are going through or what it all means. Furthermore, their parents try not to worry them.
Mrs Groot was first diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in 2019 and has been in a fierce battle ever since.
She has undergone several surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy and other therapies to combat the disease.
Despite all the treatments and her fighting spirit, she is now in stage four cancer and her fight continues.
As if that wasn’t hard enough for the Mermaid Waters family, just before his 40th birthday, Mr. Groot was given the devastating diagnosis of malignant melanoma.
He has also undergone several surgeries and immunotherapy treatments, but the cancer has spread to his lymph nodes and neck and he is now also in stage four cancer.
Gold Coast couple Claire and Aaron Groot, who have been married for 10 years, are not only fighting for their lives, but also to provide for their daughters. The family is pictured
Claire Groot was first diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in 2019 and has been in a relentless battle ever since
To help the family during this tragic time, Julia Rabina, Mrs. Groot’s sister, has set up a foundation GoFundMe page, with a goal of raising $250,000, and is already more than halfway there.
“Our fundraising goal seems ambitious, but with two parents fighting for their lives, this young family is in desperate need of support,” Ms Rabina wrote.
‘The funds raised will help alleviate the financial burden of treatment costs, doctor appointments, childcare and travel expenses, allowing Claire and Aaron to focus on their recovery without the added stress of financial pressure.’
The Groots were both fit, active and healthy – Aaron was a keen cyclist – so their diagnosis came as a shock to them.
But there is a history of skin cancer on Mr. Groot’s side of the family and he has been to the doctor three times because of a growth on his face, which he kept cutting when he shaved.
The doctor only removed it in July 2023 when Mr Groot insisted, Ms Groot said.
“Two days later they called to say that the routine biopsy had shown that it was an aggressive cancer and that she should come back right away,” she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Mr Groot underwent major surgery in Sydney to remove muscle tissue from his leg to be used in his neck, where a tumour was cut away.
The doctors were confident they had removed all of the cancer, but Mr Groot also received radiation therapy to clear away any remaining cells.
But three weeks ago, a year after struggling with his health, Aaron received the devastating news that the disease had returned and spread to his liver and bones: stage four cancer.
He has started a new immunotherapy treatment and his next scan is mid-August. His wife said they are “terrified.”
The couple said they are determined to explore all avenues possible to be there for their daughters
If the immunotherapy does not work, there will be no more options in Australia and he will have to be treated abroad, most likely in America.
Mrs Groot said: ‘We will not let cancer defeat us’, but the efforts to stay alive have led to huge medical bills, which is why her sister set up the fundraiser.
“We’ve always been a charity-donating family, but we never thought we’d ever become a charity,” she said.
“I can’t imagine a future where we can’t be there for our daughters. So we have to use every means possible to keep fighting.”