Body & Fitness

‘Dying is not an option’: mum writes book for her son to understand her cancer battle

A mum battling cancer has written a beautiful book for her son to help him understand the disease.
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Donna Penny is fighting cancer.

The 42-year-old mum was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago after finding a lump in her breast.

Five years on, the disease has returned to her lymph nodes and has spread to her spine, shoulder and other parts of her body.

Donna says the hardest part of the battle has been explaining the illness to her brave nine-year-old son, Kai.

Donna with son Kai. Picture: Instagram.

After scouring bookshops for something that might help him better understand cancer, she decided she would pen her own.

And so she wrote Why My Mummy? a book about her battle from Kai’s perspective.

Donna shared this heartbreaking video on her Instagram of Kai reading aloud from the book.

“The doctors have told my mummy that her cancer will never go away,” he says.

“My mummy has to spend a lot of time in hospital but she always comes home.”

Donna, who lives in Queensland, told Daily Mail Australia she wanted to write a book that was beautiful and bright.

“Not something a parent would be afraid to read to their child if they had cancer.”

Donna is now seeking donations via crowdfunding to get the book published.

She said: “I wanted to do something really special, not just for my family but others.

“It is truly just a horrendous disease and it doesn’t discriminate.

“I want to touch a lot of people’s hearts and tell them to keep strong and never give up.

“Even if the book doesn’t do well, at least I’ve given my children a legacy.”

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