Christmas of 2022 was one to remember for the family of one-year-old Vann Abblitt. It was the first time the whole family had been together - outside of hospital walls - happy and healthy.

For mother of three, Christine Rose, she remembers their previous Christmas and the birth of her son, Vann, like it was yesterday. It was spent at the Monash University Hospital in Melbourne, after Vann was born on 10 December 2021 with a rare tumour on his arm – as she describes, the size of a mango. 

Initially presented with the options of chemotherapy or amputation, Christine and her partner Tim, along with their other sons Oscar and Levi, spent weeks worried about Vann’s future.

But on Christmas day, their clinician Dr Peter Downie, Head of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology and Director of the Children’s Cancer Centre at Monash Children’s Hospital, presented them with an unexpected new option – for Baby Vann to receive treatment from Bayer, approved on compassionate grounds.

At this time last year, Eduardo Pimenta, Country Medical Director of Bayer in ANZ, was leading this option with the team at Bayer.

Eduardo says, “Whether it’s Christmas Day or a normal Wednesday in the middle of June, it doesn’t matter to us. We do what we do because we love it, and our team is dedicated to delivering the best medical care for Australians.”

Eduardo, along with mum Christine and Dr Downie, recently spoke with Eli Green at the NCA Newswire to talk about Vann’s journey. 

Read the full story here.