It was January 1987, one of the hottest days in history, but it was a happy day for two families. It was the wedding day of Mark Westley and new wife, Dianne, the beginning of a very special story. They were married in the small country town of Wingham, on the east coast of NSW. They made their home near the neighbouring town of Gloucester.

It wasn't long before their first daughter, Laura was born in October 1987. She was a strong willed little girl who was mature beyond her years. She was a happy little girl with a sense of humour. She was a quick learner who excelled in many areas. She loved music, and often spent many hours playing on the old family piano.

Laura was joined by Mark and Dianne's second daughter, Clara was welcomed in November 1989. She was a quiet child, who was never any trouble. She was very kind-hearted and affectionate, and she was always willing to help out. She was shy and usually kept away from the crowd.

Daughter number three, Sarah Elizabeth was born on the 1st September 1991. Maybe being born on the first day of Spring installed the "love of life" attitude she had, which she contained all throughout her life. She was a bright, bubbly child, who was always getting herself into trouble. She too had a sense of humour, and constantly kept everyone amused by her antics, which sometimes led to a situation where she had to be rescued from a precarious position.

The fourth daughter Hannah was born in October 1993. She was a happy child also, with a cute and captivating grin. Hannah too was a fairly bright and bubbly child and she provided a good companion to Sarah. She was constantly smiling and laughing.

Leah, the fifth and final daughter came into the world in October 1995. She was a quiet and happy little being. She was always a small child which earned her the nickname "Tot", which still sticks to this day.

After 5 daughters, Mark and Dianne felt they needed to balance the gender scale, and their first and only son Joshua came along in December, 1997. He was an active little boy, always eager to help out with Dad on the farm, hence tractor being one of the first words he learnt to say.

As a family, the children were close-knit, and spent many hours together, making games and inventing their own play toys. There were many cubby houses hand designed out of the loungeroom furniture and a few old sheets and blankets. They all had a creative flair inherited from both parents and they would often spend all day on the dining room table, with an array of pencils, paints and various other crafty materials.

There was always a variety of pets, and it didn't take long for all the children to develop a love for animals. They learnt how to care lovingly for a stray kitten, or an abandoned baby bird. They all loved the peace of the country and the farm lifestyle. There was always an assortment of family pets, including a range of cats, dogs, rabbits, chooks, geese and sometimes cattle. A favourite was Brutus, a bucket reared calf who enjoyed the attention that everyone gave to him. He had a big mouth, and one of his favourite snacks were Dianne's underwear on the line. He often kept the children amused with his sense of humour. Through unfortunate circumstances Brutus passed on but his memories will remain with us for a long time to come.

As the children grew, so did their talents and personalities. As time went by, they each entered school, and began the trek through life. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but like all children, they learnt that life was a mixture of happy and sad moments.

One of the family's favourite pastimes was holiday-ing. They spent a couple of weeks per year on the road, visiting scattered family and friends and seeing the magnificent veiws that Australia had to offer. Whether it was taking a road trip around the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, exploring the Blue Lakes at Mount Gambier in South Australia, visiting the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo NSW or touring the "Big Pineapple " in Queensland, the family was sure to be having fun somewhere.

As the children grew, the bond between them grew closer. Like normal children, they had their fair share of fights and squabbles, but it only re-enforced their love for each other. They had many cousins and lots of family friends, who they spent lots of time with. They enjoyed the many gatherings they attended, family barbeques and picnics in the park or in bushlands near their home. They all shared a passion for nature, and spent plenty of time exploring their farm, and their grandparents neighbouring farm. They loved going for walks up the creek beds with their grandmother who also loved the bush. They learnt to respect the land and the creatures who lived there. They all loved swimming and fishing in the rivers and many a summers day was spent on the shady riverbanks with a packed picnic lunch.

The children learnt to help out with the chores around the home. They were each given the responsibility of their own jobs. The girls usually helped out in the house, learning to cook, sew and look after a house, while Josh loved going out onto the farm and helping Dad. It wasn't uncommon for the girls to join in on the farm too. Clara soon became the chook maid, and very tenderly cared for the family chicken brood. In the corner of the house yard, a small vege patch was developed where the children took turns to tend the veges. It was a pleasure for the children to watch seeds grow into plants, and produce food and they loved the freshly picked veges that were later served up on the dinner table. Watermelons, rockmelons, and corn were some of the favourites.

For many of the years the children were growing up, Mark worked in a local coal mine, doing shift work, while Dianne stayed at home, bringing up the children. It wasn't easy, with Mark being away a lot at night, and having six children at home to look after, but the children learnt to adjust. It was hard when they came home from school, and having to keep quiet while their father slept for the coming night of work. They spent a lot of the time outside, riding their bikes, playing games, with improvised bats and balls, and spending time with their animals. There were many scraped knees, and scratches eventing from their energetic attitude towards the outdoors and many funny memories of accidents involving the children. Sarah was often the centre of the accident and always came to mum for a band-aid and a cuddle. A couple of times curiosity about nature got the better of the children which ended in a broken arm for Laura. The three younger children were always getting their fingers caught in precarious positions, often in tin cans or nuts and bolts discovered in dad's shed. One time Sarah managed to get a Barbie doll stuck firmly to her lip.

At school, the children did well in their classes. Clara and Leah had a bit of trouble with some of the harder subjects but overall they all gained respectable marks and enjoyed their studies. They all had a passion for arts and music and were involved in many school musical productions and drama nights.

Time went by, and everyone was growing up quickly. They were all healthy children and sickness was fairly rare in the household. They did their best to grow as many of their own fruit and vegetables as possible and the meat was often home grown too. Mark and Dianne did their best to try and keep their young family as healthy as they could.

On 27th November 2002, Sarah was complaining of a sore stomache so Mark took her to the local doctor. Later that day, when news reached Dianne and the children that Sarah had been diagnosed with a tumour it was a heart felt shock to everyone. Before now, the family had never come into contact with anyone with cancer before, and to the children it was an alien disease they knew very little about. It was beyond their mind to be able to understand how Sarah, their normally healthy sister could have cancer of all things.

Over the next few weeks, leading up to Christmas, the children stayed with their grandparents James and Ruth Westley, while mum and dad took Sarah to Melbourne for treatment. They were all confused about the whole situation and were very happy when she returned home a couple of days before Christmas. They spent a happy Christmas and New Year together with many family and friends.

It seemed that things had returned to normal by then. Sarah was being treated at home and while she missed many days of school, the other children brought home specially prepared work from her teachers to be completed at home. Everyone settled back into life again. In May 2003, things suddenly changed. Out of nowhere, a foreign group of people popped into their lives, DoCS. (Department of Community Services) The family life grew hectic as the children never knew what was going on. From their understanding, DoCS were trying to force Sarah into having chemotherapy when they knew very well that Sarah was fine. One photo taken at that time shows her swinging from the rafters of the house, which are about 4.5 metres above the ground. Why Sarah would need any more treatment when she was healthy and lively was senseless to them.

Things started going from bad to worse. Their parents disappeared for a few days with Sarah, they had no idea what had happened, they came home from school one day and were taken to their grandparents by the neighbour. By this time, all the children were terrified and fearing for their lives, wondering what was happening to their family. They had never been scared of anyone, and to have total strangers lurking around, watching their every move was very intimidating. They knew they were being watched at school and they were very bewildered as to why people would do that.

They then heard that Sarah was in Sydney and had had her spleen removed. They were momentarily relieved that she was in good hands, but when they realised that Sarah was extremely sick, after being forced to have chemotherapy, they went into panic again. They just wanted their parents and sister home and things to go back to normal. There were many nights that they rang up the hospital in Sydney, hopeful that they'd be able to talk to their parents and Sarah, but they couldn't because their parents were being put under pressure from DoCS and other legal representatives, and Sarah couldn't talk because she was too sick.

When they saw photo's of Sarah's condition they were shocked, and it was far beyond their comprehension how someone could be so cruel and cold-hearted to force Sarah through such sickness. They knew that they may never see their sister again and were broken that she'd been torn from them, and they may not be able to say goodbye.

With much hope and prayers, Sarah slowly recovered from the splenectomy and the chemotherapy and was moved to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. They were all relieved because they could now go and visit Sarah. Another harsh shock awaited them when they saw Sarah, she looked like a different person. She'd lost a lot of weight, she was skinny and looked very sick.She had dark browns stripes which looked like stains, all over her stomache and back, which were still there until the day she died. Her beautiful hair was almost all gone, and the little that was left was rapidly falling out in clumps. She had a yellow tinge to her skin and she was laying in bed, quite lifeless, far from the cheerful girl they knew her as.

Over the next few months, they all visited Sarah as often as they could, but between school and their other commitments, it was very hard to try and see her more than once or twice a week. The children were still scared that if they didn't go to school, they would be removed from their family and placed in a foster home, something that none of them was game enough to even imagine. They couldn't comprehend the circumstances. When they went to visit Sarah, they were only allowed to see her for two hours per day, and they had to have a stranger sit in with them, to make sure they didn't say anything wrong. Why should someone who didn't even know them or their family, have to watch them all the time. It was incriminating. Every week, their parents had to have a meeting with the oncology doctor and the DoCS representatives which again didn't make sense. They could not understand why there were so many people interfering with their lives.

The children had always been taught the Biblical principal, "Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you". They had always striven to do the right thing towards those they didn't particularly like and they'd never had a reason to hate anyone. Hatred was the only word that could be used to describe the feelings they had developing for the people who were ruining their family. It was beyond their young minds to imagine that there could be people in the world with no thought or compassion for other human beings.

They could not comprehend why their family was being bullied and forced into things that they didn't want to do. As children, they'd always been allowed to make their own decisions, with a positive influence from their parents, who always had their childrens' best interests at heart. Now even their parents were being manipulated into situations they didn't wish to be in. They didn't understand why Sarah was being forced to stay in hospital when she was perfectly well enough by now, to come home. Why she was made to stay in the hospital, and have chemotherapy when she didn't want it, and it only made her sick. Why she wasn't even allowed to go outside for a walk around the hospital grounds. No amount of explaining could satisfy their minds, even though the older children were teenagers. Not even their parents could answer all their questions, they too were too scared to try and do anything.

They were beginning to become resentful of Sarah too. They were sick of their mum and dad spending all the time and money on Sarah. They knew that a lot or people were giving Sarah gifts, and they couldn't help but wonder why no one seemed to pay any attention to them. Their marks at school were gradually declining, because of the distractions they had at home, and they were all losing their normal enthusiasm for life. As children do, they felt unfairly treated, and were craving some attention from their parents. This often resulted in them being moody and they would fight. It only put more strain on the situation. Often the children would cry themselves to sleep, because they were caught in a web of confusion and frustration at not being able to understand what was happening to them. They were constantly terrified and at times had nightmares of them being torn away from their parents and all that they held dear. They loved each other, their parents and all their other family members. They lived in the constant threat of losing all that they knew.

After Mark had attended the Supreme Court in Sydney many times, to allow his own daughter to come back into his home, Sarah was finally allowed home. Finally everyone could be family again. It took a while to adjust and get settled into life again. The routine resumed to normal and all the children started attending school regularly. Sarah was still getting treatment 2 days per week. The trip to the clinic where Sarah was being treated was about two and a half hours drive each way, which Dianne drove. This often meant she wasn't home until late at night, which left most of the home duties to the children and Mark, who was often tired after being at work all day. It also meant that the children were staying with grandparents and other family often, and while they all loved their family, they just wanted to be back home living a normal live with their mum, dad and sister. It was a stress on everyone, but they were willing to do it, because they knew it was helping Sarah get better.