The James Erskine Public School community has rallied behind 10-year-old Yavuz Yalcin following a harrowing diagnosis.
Yavuz was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in July, a type of bone cancer that started on his spine and spread to his lungs.
Since then, his family’s lives have changed drastically, and earlier today, the school held a fundraiser called, ‘Rise Up for Yavuz’.
The fundraiser involved a sausage sizzle and bake sale, staff and students donned the colour yellow, NRL representatives visited with the Provan-Summons Trophy, students put on performances, and five students and five teachers shaved their heads.
“It’s to support his family as it’ll be at least 12 months where only one family member can work,” said Assistant Principal Kylie Halfpenny.
The idea of shaving heads came from teacher Andrew Banzon, who taught Yavuz’s class for two weeks.
“He had this awesome ponytail, and I recently had just started growing my hair,” Banzon said.
“I actually really liked mine so I was thinking I’ll just keep it, but then I saw the whole situation with Yavuz, and I thought ‘What can we do as a community? What can I do to help?’
“I thought to myself, my hair will grow back, I’m not going to enjoy it, but we could probably raise some money for the family.”
Banzon convinced four other staff members to shave their heads, and to his surprise, five of Yavuz’s friends decided to do the same.
The young boys raised more than $3,000, and Yavuz’s mum Gulsum Yalcin said the support from everyone has been amazing.
“He wants to see all his friends and teachers and he wants to say thank you because of how they’re supporting him,” Gulsum said.
“We’re not feeling alone, Yavuz is not feeling alone.”
Gulsum has taken on the role of full-time carer for Yavuz, which brought the family’s normal life to a grinding halt.
“I was working two jobs, and I’ve had to leave my jobs,” she explained.
“We’ve moved out to my husband’s family’s house…because we wouldn’t be able to afford the mortgage.”
Yavuz also has a younger brother who just turned three.
“He used to go to day care, but we cancelled the day care for him, and my mum came from overseas to look after him,” said Gulsum.
“She’s staying with us as well.”
In addition to funds raised by James Erskine Public School, a GoFundMe page has been set up for the family as they battle through this period in their lives.
If you’d like to donate, visit http://www.gofundme.com/f/littlewarrior-yavus.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She is a graduate of the University of South Australia.