A country boy at heart, Delungra’s Logan Taylor is remembered as a generous spirit with a keen sense of humour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“He was a character. He was quite funny to interact with, and he was a typical farm boy. We live out on the farm and he just was obsessed with anything to do with the farm machinery,” his mother Sarah Taylor said. She said he was also incredibly resilient in times of great hardship.
Logan lost his battle with brain cancer last year, aged four years old. Officially called medulloblastoma, the cancer had metastasized down his spine. He passed away on September 25, while undergoing treatment at John Hunter Hospital.
It was just six weeks before a group of strangers donned bright pink tops and ran 150 kilometres over five days to support the Taylor family.
Charlie’s Run 4 Kids (CR4K) is a charity which supports one Australian family battling childhood cancer each year, raising funds with a run from the coastal town Seal Rocks through to Lydon Oval in Dudley, Newcastle, to end with a family day fundraiser. Held from September 19-23, the run is named after Charlotte Carr, who lost her cancer battle in 2015, aged seven.
This year Sarah and her husband Rob will rejoin the run, both in memory of Logan, and in support of Arlo Matthews, a 15-month-old from Warners Bay who was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder and prostate at only four months old. Rob is training to do the entire run, while Sarah will join in at various stages.
“We’re very fortunate to be a part of something that can remember Logan. He’s not forgotten, he’s able to be remembered through this charity. That’s a major thing for us, that he still lives on through this charity,” Sarah said.
She said CR4K had created a family through their charity, and continued to be there for the couple and their daughter Millie as they worked through their grief.
“The cancer journey is unfortunate. Because we live in a small town, you have to go away. It’s quite isolating. So it’s nice to find people that make that isolation a bit less daunting,” she said.
“The love that these people have and the caring, even though you may have just met them, it’s like you’ve known them for years. They’ve just got that nature to them, they just welcome you with big open arms, like you’ve known them for your whole life.”
She said the funds will lift the burden for Arlo’s family as they face medication and travel costs, taking care of their home during trips to the hospital and supporting Arlo’s three siblings.
RELATED STORIES
“You want to be focusing on fighting the cancer, not worrying which bit of the pay will cover the next bill,” Sarah said.
CR4K director Cheyne Waddingham acknowledged that running for a sick child, and in memory of both Logan and Charlie, was a difficult emotional burden for the runners to carry.
“The families that we run for have had their whole lives turned upside down and if the CR4K team can ease even the slightest of their pain and suffering, then we have achieved our goal of making that difference,” runner Erin Novacevski said.
“I love the fact that we are not professional runners but a group of everyday people trying to raise awareness of this crippling disease and supporting in their time of need."
To donate to Arlo’s family through CR4K, visit the My Cause fundraising page.