Telethon: The WA Country Health Service palliative care program offering support during time of immense grief

Peyton Flanner was happiest in the outdoors, roaming her family’s Boyup Brook property, doing flips on the trampoline, playing with her two sisters and cuddling her beloved pets.

It was here that this cheeky, funny and kind country kid longed to return to during the many months she spent at Perth Children’s Hospital, receiving gruelling treatment for an aggressive brain tumour.

So in September, when Peyton’s parents Kym and Nathan received the unbearable news that they didn’t have long left with their precious girl, they knew their family needed to face the next impossible chapter together, and at home.

The couple and Peyton’s sisters Dakota and Laura will always cherish the memories they created in the three months before she died, aged nine, on January 9 this year.

She was surrounded by love, at her favourite place with her favourite people. In her room Peyton looked out onto the bush she spent her childhood in, her beloved Jack Russell Roxy curled up on her bed as she spent time with friends and family.

Peyton’s bedside visitors included Blake, a kelpie she bonded with during the Telethon-funded Kelpies for Kids program, and her pony, Mary.

A video treasured by the Flanners shows Mary nuzzling into Peyton’s hand, almost like she’s trying to tuck her in, another unique experience which, as Kym says, could only have taken place at home.

“I feel that we were able to gift Peyton with calm, peace and comforts of home surrounded by only her family who loved her,” Kym says.

“No doctors, no beeping and no more procedures. After an ongoing ordeal of hospital and treatments that Peyton had endured, I believe this was the least we could do as parents for our Peyton.”

This was made possible thanks to the WA Country Health Service’s Paediatric Palliative Model of Care, a new Telethon beneficiary in 2026 which supports regional and remote WA families living with life-limiting illnesses.

Partnering with Perth Children’s Hospital and local services, the palliative care teams deliver skilled, co-ordinated and culturally safe care at home.

“It is beyond confronting to hear the words ‘end of life’,” Kym says.

“It was unfathomable to know how we would cope, but we wanted to continue to give Peyton the normality and comforts for as long as we could.

“This was all made possible purely because of the WACHS regional palliative care team. Through video calls, phone calls and home visits Dr Lisa, Dr Rachel, nurses Angela, Laura, Sharon and Ashley became our key support and guided us through the next chapter.”

The team also trained Peyton’s parents to administer and measure medicine, so they could avoid regular trips to Bunbury or Perth.

Peyton was diagnosed with a grade three ependymoma tumour one month before she turned five. After several weeks of symptoms, including the loss of balance and severe pins and needles, she suddenly worsened on October 3, 2021, losing consciousness as her mum carried her into the Boyup Brook Hospital.

She was flown to PCH by the Royal Flying Doctor Service that night, and after a CT scan Kym and Nathan — a FIFO worker who was on site at the time — were told doctors had discovered a tumour the size of a lime in Peyton’s brain.

Within an hour Peyton was rushed into emergency surgery, her dad telling her to be brave over video call, not knowing if she would survive the procedure. Five hours later, surgeons told Peyton’s parents she had woken up and asked: “Is my mummy here?”

Between November and the following May, Peyton underwent radiation and chemotherapy, and was unable to travel home until the treatment was complete. She went into remission in August, but relapsed just two months later, a reality her family had been prepared for due to the recurring, fast-moving nature of the cancer.

Over the next three years, Kym and Nathan were astounded by their daughter’s bravery, strength and resilience as she underwent further radiation, chemotherapy, surgeries and a seven-month medical trial, also encountering unexpected obstacles such as meningitis.

The couple were honest with Peyton and her sisters throughout her illness, referring to the cancer as a “bully” and the doctors as her allies who were doing their best to fight it off.

In September last year, after doctors told the Flanners that Peyton had rapid tumour growth and would be placed into palliative care, they had to tell their girls the bully was going to take Peyton to heaven.

“It is not the way life is meant to be, it is brutally unfair,” Kym says.

“It’s such an impossible chapter to face, but it was so vital to keep Peyton home.”

So the family did just that. They left PCH for the last time, going on a planned trip to Mt Buller to show the girls snow before returning to Boyup Brook.

During those final weeks Peyton was well, and able to have quality time with those who meant the most to her, taking family car trips to see the Christmas lights and sharing in birthday celebrations.

One of those took place just six days before Peyton died — a surprise 40th birthday party for Kym planned by Nathan with the help of Kym’s friends.

“In hindsight, it was quite magical the way it all happened,” Kym recalls.

“Throughout the whole night, someone was always sitting with Peyton, holding her hand. Peyton got the opportunity to see all of our family and friends, and when we did lose Peyton, everyone said what a gift we had given them; we invited them into our home and they got their time with her.

“If it wasn’t for the palliative care team, we wouldn’t have had any of those opportunities.”

The Flanners are indebted to the incredible doctors and nurses they met throughout Peyton’s journey, and were surprised to hear that those medical professionals had learnt so much from them.

Lessons in grace, love, honesty and the power of home.

“It is devastating and heartbreaking that more families will continue to walk this same path of losing their child, but it is made more bearable having the utmost care and support of the palliative care team,” Kym says.

“It is invaluable that services like this exist and are available to families like ours.”