When Natalie and David Egerton-Warburton's teenage son was tragically diagnosed with a brain tumour in April 2023, their world was turned upside down.
The Shenton Park husband and wife, who own and run agricultural accounting software company Agrimaster, were set to celebrate their youngest son Fergus' 16th birthday as their middle son Crawford returned from a gap year in Canada.
David made it a coming-of-age tradition to take each of his sons on a "journey of a lifetime" to the Kokoda Track when they reach the milestone birthday, having done the same with their other sons, Harrison, 22, and Crawford, 20.
After four months of training in the Perth Hills, David and Fergus flew to Papua New Guinea to embark on their 10-day hike. But at 6am on the first day, Fergus woke up sick.
"I thought he had eaten or drunk something the night before that made him sick, quite easy to do in PNG, so we got him an anti-nausea pill and set off to start the trek. On the way down the first hill, he was tripping and his legs were like he was drunk, he then started complaining of double vision. By the next morning, he was not any better and could not hold down his food," David explained.
When Fergus' conditions didn't improve by the second day, they turned back and hiked five hours to the start to make their way to the nearest hospital. "This is where our real adventure started," David said.
What transpired was an emergency trip to Perth and the intensive care unit (ICU) of Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) where Fergus was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.
“When you have your children, you never imagine in your wildest dreams that you will be helping them hike for hours out of jungle in a third-world country with a five-centimetre tumour in their cerebellum. Yet this was the first day of what has become our new life,” David said in a speech at the 2023 Ronald McDonald House Charities WA Gala Ball.
It took four days to arrange a medivac home when a commercial flight was out of the question with the pressure the tumour was placing on Fergus' brain.
“We were briefed in PCH’s emergency department by the neurosurgeons of the extreme severity of the tumour and there was no time to waste, the tumour would be removed first thing Monday morning,” Natalie said. Fergus underwent critical brain surgery within days.
Natalie and David found support from Ronald McDonald House Charities WA as they navigated the oncology journey while keeping their family life going and their business running, with 20 staff and thousands of customers relying on them.
The husband-and-wife team took turns to be in the hospital to be with Fergus and in the office to manage their business. “We decided to rotate daily, one person at work and one person at the hospital with Fergus. This way Fergus always had our focus 24/7 and an advocate present,” Natalie said.
“We sleep there overnight and that’s where we run the business from. We attend to him and all the appointments, but if we're on the roster, then we’re just working from PCH. That’s how we've been running the business since April when he went for the operation," David added.
"We fully briefed our staff and gave them 100 per cent clarity of our lack of availability over the next eight months. They were great and stepped up to the plate, and our company has not missed a beat. We are very grateful to them."
Having the support of Ronald McDonald House Charities WA and its volunteers, the staff at PCH, friends and family, and other families on the oncology ward has been crucial as they navigate Fergus' journey. "Having a child with cancer like Fergus’ is a full-time job for one parent for at least 12 months," David said.
“We meet lots of parents in the hospital who are in a similar boat to us. All of them have managed to find strength and resilience that they did not know they had before their tragic event,” Natalie said.
While the Egerton-Warburtons live in Shenton Park locally to the hospital and the PCH accommodation rooms which Ronald McDonald House WA manages, RMHC WA is there for both metropolitan and regional families with children in critial care, aiming to keep parents as close to their critically ill or injured child during this important time.
“Our first introduction to Ronald McDonald House Perth Children's Hospital (on Level 5) came when Kylie, our clinical nurse, said once Fergus was out of surgery he would be high risk and in ICU for two to three days. We would need to be close at all times and had been put on a wait list to stay on Level 5," Natalie said.
“We had been granted a room for as long as he was in ICU. For this we will be forever grateful. This meant one of us could always be with Fergus whilst the other rested on Level 5. Friends and family were also able to visit and comfort us and we were still close by to Fergus if we needed to go urgently," she explained.
The Egerton-Warburtons are an example of the type of family the charity can support. “Ronald McDonald House Charities WA picked us up and supported us when the world we knew was crumbling around," David said.
"The Ronald McDonald House Charities WA volunteers, affectionately known as the Blue Army, made us cuppas, cleaned up after us and provided us with meals and were great at listening," Natalie added.
Coming out of surgery, Fergus was unable to talk, unsteady and in extreme pain. “Nothing could have prepared us for the boy we saw nine hours later in ICU. Post-op was very confronting for us all,” Natalie said. Over the next couple of months, Fergus lost 13kgs, was frail, and was dependent on 24/7 care before rehabilitation started.
“One of my darkest days was early on in physio watching my once highly active, gorgeous boy trying to hold a ball and couldn’t. He now only had the strength and mobility of a newborn. It became very real that day, we had a long road ahead,” Natalie said.
“We are only part way through our journey, but we will be forever grateful for PCH, friends and family, and charities like Ronald McDonald House Charities WA who have supported us along the way.”
The Egerton-Warburtons continue to manage life and business and post-rehabilitation treatment as Fergus continues his recovery, which has been a team effort between family, friends, their staff, and the hospital.
“We all work very collaboratively together. We have the most amazing network of friends and family who have been so supportive. We are truly fortunate, we live close to the hospital and work, so it is easy for us to go to home and work and rotate. We also have an amazing friend and family network who picked us up and supported us,” Natalie said.
"Not all families are so lucky, usually one partner must quit their job, going down to one income and if they are from the regions then one partner needs to stay in or close to the hospital and the other must go back to work and visit when they can."
The Egerton-Warburtons have since given back to Ronald McDonald House Charities WA, raising over $55,000 since they received its vital support.
Ronald McDonald House Charities WA continues to give ill or injured children what they need most - their families close to them and help to keep their lives going - regardless whether they are from regional or metropolitan areas.
To show your support for RMHC WA and the work they do for WA families and their children, visit www.rmhcwa.org.au to find our how you can help.
