Cancer patient's powerful lesson about life breaks Aussies' hearts as she publicly reveals she's been given months to live: 'Things that end up being the biggest of all'
Anna Tarrant, 41, has spent weeks in hospital and is now confined to a wheelchair, requiring 24/7 care.
The Sydneysider was a fit and healthy 26-year-old when doctors first found a cancerous tumour the size of a small lemon on her brain in October 2010.
She has since undergone five major brain surgeries, radiotherapy, and countless stints of chemotherapy and treatment.
With her cancer now immune to chemotherapy, Ms Tarrant's hopes of beating cancer were dealt a cruel blow last month when doctors took her off a trial drug, leaving her with no more treatment options.
She took to local Facebook page Mosman Living to share confronting details of the setback and seek advice as she prepares for the inevitable.
'I was informed there's nothing they can do for me anymore, my cancer is just too aggressive and the cells are growing way too quickly,' she wrote.
'I've been given months to live and I've never felt so scared or alone.
'My heart has shattered into a million pieces,' she said, revealing she had an 'extremely short life expectancy of months'.
She shared a powerful lesson for the community where she's lived her entire life.
'Life is too short and in the end it's the little gestures and things that end up being the biggest of all,' she said.
'Enjoy every moment of sunshine in our little slice of heaven and try and focus on what you do have, not what you don't.'
The candid post was inundated with hundreds of messages of support and advice from Mosman locals.
'This is a such as honest and heartbreaking post to read,' one wrote.
Another added: 'Oh Anna, my heart aches reading your word... Thank you for your courage in sharing something so raw and real, your strength and honestly are deeply moving.'
The latest update on Ms Tarrant's GoFundMe page posted on June 17 states that she is paralysed and needs 24-7 care.
'I've always been positive, kind, generous, caring, thoughtful and loving and full of sunshine,' Ms Tarrant wrote.
'Watching your body slowly dying and failing you physically is extremely traumatic and my heart is completely broken
I have this terribly debilitating cancer that has stripped me of all my independence and is now continuing to take it away.. my heart is broken.'
Ms Tarrant previously worked high-flying corporate job but turned to volunteering after her diminishing brain function meant she could no longer handle a list of hundreds of clients.
'The thing I am most frightened of is not knowing how I am going to deteriorate,' she previously told Daily Mail Australia.
'I am so scared of losing my mental and physical capacity over time.'
More than 1,920 new cases of brain cancer are diagnosed in Australia each year, and it is the leading cause of cancer death in children and adults aged under-40.
The overall five year survival rate for all types of primary brain tumours is around 36 per cent, according to Cancer Australia.
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