ALL Halls Head couple Casper and Carin Fritz wanted for their little girl’s birthday was to see her smile despite trying times.
Their daughter Shanay was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma, a high-grade glioma in her spine last month.
A rare form of cancer usually seen in 70- to 80-year-old women, Shanay is the only person in Australia with the disease and the only two-year-old in the world currently diagnosed.
The family had to decide whether to cut the fast-growing, three-centimetre by 1.5cm tumour out of her spine and put Shanay in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, or go through chemotherapy to shrink the tumour to a more manageable size to make it easier to remove.
It was a hard decision, but one week before her third birthday, Shanay started chemotherapy.
Despite the vast change in the Fritz’s version of normalcy, they were still determined to make sure their little girl enjoyed her birthday.
“We go day-by-day because there’s never been anyone in the same position as Shanay,” Mrs Fritz said.
“The whole cancer network knows about her and blood and tumour samples have been sent to Germany for testing.
“That’s why it is so important for her to enjoy her birthday and be with her friends.”
Shanay’s treatment does not come without challenges; with her birthday just a week after her first round of chemotherapy, her immune system was down and she couldn’t go out in public.
That’s where Chipmunks Playground and Café came in.
Mrs Fritz approached them about holding an after-hours party away from the public, which they were more than happy to do despite the family’s minimal budget.
“People kept asking me to please cancel the party but I’m glad we didn’t,” she said.
“She’s a laughing toddler when she’s not in pain and she was excited for her party and wanted to see her friends.
“She was crying when we were on our way there because she was in pain but she was so sure she wanted to go.”
The Fritz family walked into Chipmunks and Shanay “lit up” and was full of energy.
“It’s the fact she can slide down things and climb up things and do everything without me stopping her; that’s why she loves it there so much,” Mrs Fritz said.
“She’s in her own territory and there’s nobody telling her what to do.
“She’s in control.”
It wasn’t just Shanay’s excitement which made the Fritz’s day, but Chipmunks as well.
When Mrs Fritz went to pay the bill, they refused to take any money.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Mrs Fritz said.
“I am very, very grateful.
“My husband had never been there before and couldn’t believe how much space there is and how clean it was, which is so important so Shanay at the moment.
“And usually you only get an hour of play time so I told them we would be out at seven o’clock.
“I looked at the time and suddenly it was 7.30pm and they didn’t mind.
“They said: ‘no, take your time and enjoy yourselves.”
See more about Shanay’s battle at mandurahmail.com.au
