Ayla was sent for blood tests and she was officially diagnosed with cancer in May last year.
"I just collapsed, broke down and started hyperventilating."
Soon after, Ayla was sent to Christchurch to receive chemotherapy and steroids.
But a reaction to the first round of chemotherapy caused some of her major organs to stop functioning, so she spent two months in intensive care.
Following an adjustment to her chemotherapy, Ayla is now back home in Dunedin receiving "maintenance" treatment, and the prognosis is good.
Looking back, Bohn said it had been a "horrific year" — one she and her family would have struggled to deal with had it not been for the New Zealand Child Cancer Foundation.
"We want to be a part of their fundraising efforts because they do so much for families like ours. It was just amazing to have their support.
"Life was so difficult but they made it that little bit easier."
The Child Cancer Foundation has cancelled this year's annual street appeal because of health and safety concerns for volunteers amid the growing Covid-19 outbreak.
So the foundation is urging New Zealanders to make donations this March, through its website or by texting CHILD to 3457 to give $3.
The street appeal is the foundation's biggest fundraising event of the year, and cancelling it risked losing about $300,000 in vital donated funds to support New Zealand children with cancer.
Foundation chief executive Monica Briggs said three New Zealand families each week were told their child had cancer.
The foundation provided them with one-to-one emotional and practical support every step of the way.
"We don't receive any charitable funding from the government, so we rely on the generosity of fellow Kiwis to help these families."
