In a month of bad news, and worse news, I’m happy to say that I have some truly wonderful news to share, but I do ask for something in return – please stay home.

We have all been affected, in one way or another, by COVID-19, but the reality is that, for some of us, this virus poses a far greater health risk.

I hope we are all, by now, explicitly aware of how important it is to heed the #StayHome and self-isolation advice and laws. In case anyone needed any further reason, I would like to introduce (or reintroduce) you to my cousin, Grace.

Grace is 14 years old. She is the brightest, happiest young girl you could ever have the joy of meeting. No matter what, she is always smiling. She loves to sing and dance, make speeches, eat pancakes, and to hug her favourite cousin (that would be me, of course).

Some of you may already know her – she appeared in the post-match press conference after last year’s Good Friday game, sitting alongside myself and Brad Scott, proudly declaring that the Royal Children’s Hospital had saved her life.

About nine months prior, Grace had received the news that she had been officially cured of leukaemia, having been cancer-free for five years.

The nightmare first began for Grace and her family during a holiday to my family home, in Hobart, for Christmas in 2011. She was six years old at the time, and was complaining of intermittent fevers and spells of pain and exhaustion.

Not long after returning home to Melbourne, Grace was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital with pain in her legs, so severe that she couldn’t walk. After a night in hospital, my aunt and uncle received the news that Grace had diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The lives of not only Grace, but also of her siblings and my uncle and aunt, were changed forever in that moment.

Grace didn’t leave the RCH for the next six months, with aggressive treatment beginning the very next day. She almost died twice during this stint in hospital – once due to a viral infection.

It took three years, countless trips to and from the Royal Children’s Hospital for extended stays and chemotherapy treatments, but Grace won. She was in remission. And then she won again, announcing to the world on Good Friday that she was officially cured – and on live TV, no less!

No one could have been prepared for what was to come next for Grace. Only six months later, Grace was told that she had developed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for the second time. It was a devastating blow for a family that had been through so much already.

Grace was told she may only have weeks or months to live – relapsed paediatric cancer patients struggle to cope with the toll chemotherapy takes on the body, particularly given the weakened immune system the first cancer battle leaves them with.

Grace was given a single hope of survival – a new treatment called CAR T-cell therapy. She would be the first Down syndrome child to receive this therapy in Australia.

T-cells extracted from Grace’s blood were flown to the USA to be re-engineered in a lab with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) added. These CARs, once returned to Grace’s body, would assist Grace’s weakened immune system to identify and attack cancer cells.

After months of intensive treatment, last Tuesday we received the best possible phone call; my Grandma, through tears of joy, shared the news with my wife and I that Grace’s cancer cell count had officially been reduced to zero.

While her family are under no illusions that her battle is not yet over, given there is a 60% chance of the cancer’s recurrence after CAR T-cell therapy, this result was still a huge step for Grace.

She was in remission again. She had won again – at least for the time being.

Grace and her family have been through enough. The worry, for them, should be over, and they should be celebrating this amazing milestone.

However, as the COVID-19 pandemic penetrates our country, Grace’s immune system is more fragile than it has ever been before.

The prospect of my cousin contracting this virus is scary, and the consequences could be life-threatening.

I had hoped that Grace and I could repeat our post-match press conference after a win on Good Friday this year, but it wasn’t to be. And even though I’d love to be out there playing footy, or even training with my teammates, I know that we are doing the right thing.

So, if anyone out there is still unsure why there is no footy on the TV, and why they need to stay home, to help flatten the curve, and to stop the spread of this virus, please think about my amazing young cousin – the little girl who has fought bravely all her life with a smile on her face.

With thanks to Grace and Grant Manson, for giving their permission for this story and providing information vital to its writing.