Lach was healthy one day, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer the next and passed away only 7 months later.
Lach was a fit and healthy 19-year-old who loved basketball and football. He was social and loved spending time with his family and friends. As a child, he was never ill until one day in June 2021, he was diagnosed with a Diffuse Midline Glioma, a terminal brain tumour on his brain stem with no cure - it is the worst of the worst.
Lach fought with everything he had. He was given a 1% chance of surviving 5 years and that's what he worked towards each day. He endured surgery, radiation and a clinical trial, yet lost his battle on Saturday 1st January 2022 at 6.47pm. A battle that only lasted 7 months. He fought hard but it was just too big to win. The treatment that Lach was offered was the same treatment used for children in the 1960's; there have been no major medical advances in more than 60 years.
Lach's tumour took his balance, coordination, vision, speech, the ability to swallow and then breathe. Brain cancer receives very little funding yet it is the biggest killer of young people under 40 in Australia.
We need to raise funds and awareness. We are working towards a day where families are offered treatment options for their children upon diagnosis and where brain cancer is not classed as terminal. Let's go from 'Go home and make memories' to one day where no lives are lost to brain cancer.
