Queenslander Lucy survived cancer – then chose to go back to hospital
Childhood cancer survivor Lucy Newman beat cancer over three gruelling years. And now, she’s using the experience to drive her career.
Chemotherapy helped save Lucy Newman’s life as a nine-year-old, but she says she still finds it “confronting” to treat other cancer patients.
The now 21-year-old – who battled acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for three years before she went into remission – recently secured a role as an enrolled a nurse at Mater Hospital in Springfield, inspired by those who have taken care of her.
“My illness is what got me into nursing,” she says.
“I loved the way the nurses cared for me and I wanted to give back to the community in the same way.”
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The Queensland woman from Springfield Lakes says she had been experiencing fatigue and pain in the six months leading up to her diagnosis.
“But after going back and forth to the doctors we didn’t get any answers,” she says.
Then she collapsed at home.
“I was taken to the hospital and the test results finally came back. It was cancer.”
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After three years of treatment, Newman went into remission following a bone marrow transplant.
And now, she is one of a this year’s record 173 students who graduated from Mater Education’s Diploma of Nursing program.
She says the full circle-moment of being placed on the oncology ward was “a little bit confronting” but also “incredibly rewarding”.
“Somehow, my personal experience as a chemotherapy patient always came out to the patients in my care,” she says.
“It put them more at ease and allowed me to connect with them more deeply since they could relate to me.”
Across the state, the Queensland Government estimates that an extra 21,300 new nurses are needed by 2032 to cope with growing patient demand and a wave of senior nurses approaching retirement.
To help meet that figure, 2000 free Diploma of Nursing training places are on offer this year – 940 of which will be offered at Mater Education in Brisbane, Springfield and Townsville.
Mater Education’s Diploma of Nursing senior manager Clare Cureton says the training was a “huge opportunity” for anyone interested in a career in healthcare.
“There are exciting opportunities in nursing in every part of the state,” she says.
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