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Johnny Ruffo’s Christmas present to sick children

<p dir="ltr">Johnny Ruffo has praised his girlfriend Tahnee Sims for being by his side as he continues through treatment for brain cancer.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former <em>Home and Away</em> actor said that he owed everything to his incredible girlfriend who he joked had it harder than him because “she has to deal with me”. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Having Tahnee by my side every step of the way, literally and metaphorically, she's incredible. I couldn't do it without her,” he told 9Honey.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She does it just as hard as I do. She's having to deal with all the doctors and what they're saying, and then she has to deal with me once we get home as well.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The singer is going through chemotherapy once every three weeks and said he wanted to give gave as the holiday season creeps up. </p> <p dir="ltr">Ruffo partnered with Amazon Australia to help twelve superhero children from the Starlight Children’s Foundation to become official toy testers for the festive season.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj45neCLNj2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj45neCLNj2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Johnny Ruffo (@johnny_ruffo)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">"It brings such joy to me. It's a privilege to be able to know that you are helping them forget about everything that they're going through," he said in the Starlight Children's Foundation campaign.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I feel like I get as much out of it as the kids. It's quite cathartic for me to be able to bring joy to these children who are somewhat in a similar position."</p> <p dir="ltr">The 34-year-old was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017 after struggling with multiple headaches.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ruffo then announced in 2019 that he was in remission, but by November 2020 the cancer had returned, before confirming in 2022 that his illness is terminal.</p> <p dir="ltr">He has also recently released a memoir called No Finish Line, dedicated to his girlfriend, in which he details his experiences recording music, acting, his family and loved ones.</p> <p dir="ltr">The title, he explains, is that “it wasn’t the end”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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Train driving dream comes true for brain tumour survivor

<p dir="ltr">Three years after doctors found a large tumour growing in his brain, seven-year-old Broly Blackmore has seen his dream of becoming a train driver come true.</p> <p dir="ltr">The young boy from Hallett, South Australia, had the tumour removed when he was just four years old after he collapsed and was rushed to hospital by helicopter.</p> <p dir="ltr">If it wasn’t removed that night, doctors told his mother, Corrine Maidment, that he wouldn’t make it.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the years since, Broly’s life has become relatively normal, albeit with regular brain scans and physio trips - and he has had his wish of driving a train granted by the Starlight Foundation.</p> <p dir="ltr">The seven-year-old went on a trip on the Pichi Richi steam train, travelling from Quorn to Port Augusta as a “trainee train driver”.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Ever since he was only a couple of months old everything has always been about trains … diesels aren't as good as steam trains apparently," Ms Maidment said, adding that he barely slept the night before the big day.</p> <p dir="ltr">"According to everyone in the train, they weren't allowed to do anything without his say so … at one point, he told the fireman, the guy who does the coal, 'That's my seat. I need to sit there'.</p> <p dir="ltr">"He was boss for the day." </p> <p dir="ltr">The Pichi Richi railway, an outback steam train experience that has been operating since 1973, later shared a sweet photo of Broly on the train.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Last Sunday, Pichi Richi Railway was able to grant a wish for a very special visitor, 7 year old Broly who was having his wish granted with help from Starlight Children's Foundation Australia’s ‘Wishgranting Program’,” the railway <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PichiRichiRailway/posts/pfbid032C45MeP339xWYPL321ZTFjXXsehYJh7pWe2xkX812DkCLCBZgZyp8UVNGVzF7ztvl">wrote</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Broly loves trains so Starlight contacted Pichi Richi Railway and Broly was lucky enough to ride in the cab of engine W934 for the day with our crew on the Pichi Richi Explorer service. </p> <p dir="ltr">“A very special day for our crew, Broly and his family.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Although Broly’s wish was given to him while he was in hospital, Ms Maidment said they had waited until he was old enough to decide how he wanted to spend it.</p> <p dir="ltr">"He's had the wish sitting there since he was in the hospital ... but we wanted to wait until he was old enough to make a decision himself so he'd know what the wish was and he'd remember it," she said. </p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4354a857-7fff-0466-bb9f-4dd255b3ba47"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Blackmore family, Starlight Foundation, Pichi Richi Railway (Facebook)</em></p>

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“All I wanted was to feel normal”: Johnny Ruffo reflects on brain cancer treatment

<p>Former<span> </span>Home and Away<span> </span>star Johnny Ruffo has recently been declared cancer-free after a two year long battle with brain cancer.</p> <p>In 2017, a seven-centimetre tumour was located in his brain and he underwent an operation to remove it. It was only after this operation that he went through chemotherapy and radiation until he was declared cancer free.</p> <p>Ruffo, 31, is now paying it forward after teaming up with Amazon and the Starlight Children’s Foundation to give back to kids undergoing cancer treatment.</p> <p>"I know what it's like being in hospital," Ruffo explained to<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/johnny-ruffo-shares-how-he-feels-each-time-he-steps-foot-in-a-hospital/84d82ec7-49ea-49ba-90a1-2ec1318adb9d" target="_blank">9Honey Celebrity</a>.</p> <p>"Every time I step foot in a hospital in general, it brings me back to all the times I had to visit hospitals myself. For children I imagine it's so much worse."</p> <p>"Seeing and working with foundations like Starlight, you realise how valuable they are and how amazing they are," Ruffo says.</p> <p>"Quite often you'll see kids walking in [to the Starlight room] and they're not looking too great. But they'll come out with these big smiles on their face.</p> <p>"I just think that if these kids can just stop thinking about everything that's going on in their life for just that moment, and have fun and smile and laugh, then it's just worth everything."</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LZENZFBH3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4LZENZFBH3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Today, alongside @AmazonAustralia and @StarlightAU 💫 I got to help out a cause close to my heart. Together, we’re giving Aussie kids in children’s hospitals around the country the chance to become ultimate toy testers. Introducing... *drum roll please*... 🥁 The Amazon Playmakers! They’ll be reviewing the top 100 toys which are set to top every wish list this holiday season. Keep an eye out for the catalogue launching soon. @AmazonAustralia #DeliveringSmiles #Collab</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/johnny_ruffo/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Johnny Ruffo</a> (@johnny_ruffo) on Oct 28, 2019 at 3:04pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Ruffo admitted that the impacts of cancer still make him emotional.</p> <p>"I felt the same when I was going through all of my chemo and radiation and everything to do with cancer. All I wanted was to feel normal, for a small moment," the actor explains.</p> <p>"There are so many side effects, you just want to feel normal for a bit and I think Starlight does that. They take you to another world and you forget about everything for a bit."</p> <p>Ruffo says that he’s in awe of the children’s resilience and their ability to stay positive.</p> <p>"Working with these kids and seeing some of these kids, they're so positive. They're just so amazing, I love these kids. They're so strong," Ruffo said.</p> <p>"Nobody should have go through this, nobody should have to go to hospital and spend long amounts of time in hospital.</p> <p>"It's horrible, it's really horrible. Anything I can do to help give back… I think foundations like Starlight, they deserve all the recognition in the world."</p>

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