Donna and Shane Franz are facing a situation no parent wants at Christmas time, one of their children being severely sick.
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This festive season is full of mixed emotions for the family, with the birth of daughter Evelyn 10 weeks ago juxtaposed against son Ryleigh's battle with a brain tumour.
In 2010, Donna and Shane were told their first-born child had a tumour on his pituitary gland causing his brain to fill up with fluid.
An operation was not able to remove all of the tumour due to its location, with complications resulting from the chemotherapy seeing the family cease treatment.
After three years, life in the Franz household was difficult but stable, as Ryleigh started to live like any normal primary school-aged child would.
He loves Nerf Guns, football and being with his friends.
However, news the tumour not only has returned but grown back to its pre-operation size has left Donna and her family stunned.
"When we are in the hospital with him you wake up and take each day as it comes, you just try and put one foot in front of the other,” Mrs Franz said.
"It's tougher now with the two other children (Declan). As a mother you find yourself struggling to split your time between the three kids."
Radiation therapy in Melbourne, where he will undergo daily treatments for six weeks, is the last chance for Ryleigh to beat the tumour.
"At this point it's the only option given that chemotherapy has made him sick both times and quite dramatically given he ends up in ICU for a week," Mrs Franz said.
"Doctors can't guarantee that it will never come back, you never know if the tumour will grow again.
"I guess watching your child die is probably one of the toughest things to say.
"But we have received so much support already, so we are happy, sad and overwhelmed this Christmas."
Despite the adversity that has engulfed his young life, Ryleigh has become like a brother to Alex Morris’ son Jordan.
"He thought Ryleigh was the coolest kid because he was in a wheelchair when he was going through his first bout of treatment,” Mrs Morris said.
Mr Franz has left his job as a forklift driver for Linfox for periods of time to be there for his family with Mrs Franz admitting mounting costs are taking their toll.
