When local mother Nicola Greville took her infant son to the doctors in 2013 with suspicions he may have low iron levels she had no idea he was about to be diagnosed with a rare type of leukaemia.
"The doctor came around home that morning two hours later and told us that he had leukaemia and that we'd have to pack...and that we'd be flying the next day on the air ambulance to Starship and not to expect to be home for a great deal of time," she said.
Marcus, just days away from his first birthday, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia treatment and underwent four rounds of aggressive chemotherapy at Starship Hospital in Auckland throughout the following six months.
With a 55 per cent success rate Mrs Greville said her and her husband, Stuart Greville, had to balance Marcus' treatment with fulltime work and caring for their two other children at home.
"It was a pretty trying time but at that time Child Cancer Foundation made themselves known to us and were really, really supportive in terms of rallying together grocery vouchers, petrol vouchers, making contact to see if we needed anything else and that sort of support."