Bella Ainsworth had been a mother for seven weeks when she heard the news.
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Her newborn baby, Saf, was at home with her mother-in-law, unaware that his mum was in any kind of danger.
If it’s cancer, it’s cancer — we’ll deal with it, we’ll chop it out, Bella thought.
The doctor stepped into the room.
“It’s cancer,” he said.
No matter how prepared you think you are, you’re never ready to digest those two weighted words.
Especially when you’ve heard it before.
The déjà vu of her mother’s diagnosis superseded the tiny hospital room – it was coming up five years since she died of breast cancer.
But in Bella’s case, there’s arguably more difficulty in swallowing this pill.
As the doctor continued to talk, there was no relief, only pain as the blows kept coming.
Pow.
“It’s terminal.”
Bam.
“It’s extremely rare in someone of your age.”
Whack.
“It’s inoperable.”
Bella, her husband, Mitch Barrett, and her father, Garry Ainsworth, sat in silence, shocked by what they were dealing with.
How did they get here — again?
“The day Saf was discharged, Bella was admitted,” Mitch said.
“Initially it was a blood clot – she was put on blood thinners to fix that.
“But then a few days later, she was rushed to hospital and losing a lot of blood internally.
“That’s when she got flown down to Melbourne and they did some emergency surgery and found that she had some ulcers in her stomach that the blood thinners were causing to bleed.
“It was all these things that kind of built up, then they discovered…”
“Then, when they started getting an idea of what it might be, they took all the tests,” Bella said.
“At this stage we knew, or thought, it would be cancer. But we didn’t realise it would be this type.”
Bella has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called cholangiocarcinoma.
Most often occurring in adults over 50, it affects the liver, gallbladder and surrounding bile ducts.
“It’s caused a lot of complications to my liver, which is why they can’t do surgery, it’s in an awkward spot,” Bella said.
“Essentially, my liver just wanted to be the star of the show and really went too far with it.”
In the face of serious illness, Bella exudes radiant energy with a firecracker of a personality.
Her humour ranges from light — cracking jokes about Anthony Albanese calling to say she has the cutest baby in the world, to dark — wanting the public to treat her normally because, as she said, “I’m not dead yet”.
What else can she do but keep calm, kid around and carry on?
Her mother would’ve done the same.
“Through Mum’s whole cancer journey, you wouldn’t have known she had cancer,” Bella said.
“She was stoic and steadfast. She pushed through in a way I’ve never seen before, always maintaining that being a mum and wife would come first ... and she was the best mum there ever was.”
Liz Ainsworth was a powerhouse of a parent, but her name also rings many a bell in the Shepparton community given her years of volunteer work.
“Mum’s always been community-minded … I followed in my mum’s footsteps for sure,” Bella said.
Bella is an employee at the Lighthouse Project, has been involved in council, volunteered at the African House festival, and is part of a local volunteer program called L to P where she’s buddied with a young person to help them get their driving hours up.
“When you’ve grown up in Shepparton, you have a sense of community without realising it — you’ll help out at that festival, or volunteer to do that, or work for an organisation that supports something you’re passionate about,” she said.
All the different facets of Bella’s life have come forward following her diagnosis, and her family have been incredibly moved by the expression of emotion and offers to ease their financial burden.
Though doctors initially branded her inoperable, Bella said they floated an idea that a full liver transplant was a potential way forward — a costly hope for the future.
Currently, only two hospitals in Australia can do the operation — one in Victoria and one in Sydney.
“The one in Victoria, unfortunately, I was out of their criteria,” she said.
“But Sydney have a few ‘cowboys’ and they’re keen to give me a shot.”
In the wake of an indefinite move to Sydney, Mitch’s sister Elle Griffin started a GoFundMe page with a target of $150,000.
As of August 17, the total donations were nearing $130,000 — an outpouring of generosity that has come as both a gift and a shock.
“How do you thank someone for that?” Bella said.
“There’s not many words in the English language that can describe it aptly.”
Mitch was less stunned than Bella by the support.
“Bella’s really humble … she deserves every little bit of it — it’s a little bit come back her way from a lifetime of selflessness and generosity. It’s phenomenal,” he said.
“I think the GoFundMe is a real testament to our community,” Bella said.
“There’re not many communities that would rally around — very overwhelming that it’s around me — I’m genuinely very grateful that I’m here in Shepparton because the people here are amazing.”
For those unable to lend a financial hand, Bella said having her family in their thoughts and prayers, or just waving hello and treating her normally down the street was enough.
And if you do cross paths, she won’t be hard to spot.
Bella’s cheeky aura, which she shares with her son, radiates like the blonde halo-like hair atop her head.
But despite her glowing appearance, she’s not ready for the skies just yet.
Feet firmly on the ground, liver in check, and the arms of her baby boy, her husband and her family around her — that’s where she belongs and that’s where she’s fighting to stay.
• Mitch and Bella would like to say a special thank you to their parents – Kath and Russell Barrett for being full-time carers of Saf during their stints in Melbourne, and Garry Ainsworth for being a rock through all this.
Donations to Bella’s GoFundMe page can be made via https://gofund.me/6b9d1aa4
Upcoming fundraising events include Longleat Lunch for Bella this Sunday (https://events.humanitix.com/longleat-lunch-for-bella); Mr Sheppy’s next events; and Bendigo Sweet Peach’s Bake Sale for Bella on Sunday, September 10.
Journalist