Australian cancer patients forced overseas as $500m proton therapy centre sits empty in Adelaide

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*********** ******* patients forced overseas as $500m proton therapy centre sits empty in Adelaide

Pressure is mounting on the federal government to fund a life-saving ******* treatment in

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Patients are currently having to fork out thousands of dollars to receive proton beam therapy, a specialised radiation treatment, in the United States.

It is recommended by doctors as an alternative to regular radiation because it targets the ******* cells and minimises damage to surrounding nerves.

It has a survival rate of more than 90 per cent in children, but Australia does not have a proton beam therapy machine.

Robbie and Beth Marchmont have flown to Jacksonville in Florida, USA, to get treatment for their five-year-old son, Ted.

“It’s a really tough pill to ******** to be told that your child has brain *******,” Robbie said.

“It makes it even harder to hear that the correct treatment is only available overseas.

Beth said Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world and our children “deserve better”.

The Marchmonts are thankful to the many Australians who have donated more than $300,000 to an

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They say they have seen other families forced into debt trying to fund the treatment to give their kids a fighting chance.

Camera IconTed Marchmont will fly to Florida for proton beam therapy. Credit: 7NEWS

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Camera IconTed’s parents say *********** kids are being left behind because the proton beam therapy is not available here. Credit: 7NEWS

In 2017, the Turnbull government provided $70 million to establish Australia’s first proton therapy centre in

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A cutting-edge $500 million facility was subsequently built with its website boasting: “The *********** Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research set to become a landmark

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care facility, offering specialised proton radiation treatments to paediatric, adolescent, and adult patients who are battling rare forms of *******.”

But in 2024 the SA state government cited funding issues when it tore up the contract with

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company ProTom International, which was supplying the machine.

This week

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Health Minister Chris Picton could not answer questions from 7NEWS about when, or even if, a new contract will be drawn up with a different company.

“Obviously this is being managed as it has been for the last six or so years by the Treasurer and the Department of Treasury and Finance … the short answer is we are still working on it and we are hopeful we can work to find another solution,” Picton said.

The federal Health Minister says he is also working with the states to try to find a solution.

“I really want to see this unit available in Australia as quickly as possible,” he said on Wednesday.

For now, the state-of-the-art centre for proton therapy, which would deliver life-saving treatment for ******* patients, remains empty.

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Camera IconThe $500m state-of-the-art centre for proton therapy in Adelaide remains empty. Credit: 7NEWS

Adding to their pain, patients must apply for a Commonwealth grant to help cover costs to receive the treatment overseas.

A

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family has told 7NEWS about the

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“He started to have absent gazes when he was sort of looking around, which we later found out were signs that he was having seizures,” mum Shannon O’Mahony said.

“We rushed him to emergency and … the CT scan confirmed every parent’s worst nightmare, which is that he had a large and aggressive brain tumour.”

What followed for the tiny baby was a series of painful tests, surgeries, and several rounds of chemotherapy.

Now his young parents must travel to Florida to receive proton beam radiation.

“It just adds a whole element of fear and unknown to the process,” Shannon said.

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Camera IconBaby Cruz, pictured with his father David Kelly and mum Shannon O’Mahony, was diagnosed with a brain tumour on Christmas Eve. Credit: 7NEWS

A

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for Cruz’s treatment and ongoing rehabilitation.

She said the one thing keeping her going is imagining all the fond memories the family will create after Cruz finishes his treatment.

“The thing that gets me through, in all honesty, that gives me the strength, is thinking about when Cruz’s treatment will be done, the things that we will do, the life that we will have, the amazing places that we can take him,” she said.

“Giving Cruz the life that he deserves — if I think about that and the fact that we will have those moments with him, we just need to get through this hard part first.”

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