Brave stars take pain, trauma in their stride

"It's sort of like having a rock in your shoe. At first it's a pain but eventually you get used to it."

Jack Day's beautifully simple way of explaining how he lives with cerebral palsy belies the pain and trauma he has endured in his short life.

Born with the condition that causes stiffness in his legs and left arm, the 11-year-old has had nine operations, including a risky seven-hour surgery to cut selected spinal nerves when he was four.

Jack and fellow Telethon 2013 star Tahlia Polmear have battled more illness and suffering in their 11 years than most adults do in their lifetime.

Tahlia was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia a year ago today. It has turned the Esperance schoolgirl's life upside down.

Tahlia and her mother Anya moved to Perth for 10 months so she could begin a gruelling chemotherapy treatment regime - intravenous drugs, lumbar punctures and bone marrow checks - at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Now in the treatment phase to stop the cancer returning, Tahlia is remarkably unaffected by the past year.

"It hasn't stopped me from doing what I want to do. It's only stopped me from doing stuff I didn't do before, like rugby and football," she says matter- of-factly.

As this year's Telethon children, Jack and Tahlia will be given star treatment as they help to raise money to help sick children like themselves.

Tahlia's leukaemia was a bolt out of the blue for the Polmear family, who live on a rural block outside Esperance.

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Brave stars take pain, trauma in their stride