Nineteen-year-old Ashlee Knight was diagnosed with an optic nerve glioma and intercranial hypotension on 27th July, 2020 that unknowingly would alter the course of her life.
While playing lawn bowls at Mackay City Bowls Club, Ashlee started complaining that she couldn’t see the kitty up at the other end of the green.
Her mother Anna booked her an optometrist appointment, which was just the beginning of her three-and-a-half year battle ahead.
From July 2020, Ashlee’s doctors in Brisbane monitored her glioma every month, until she lost around 80 per cent of her eyesight in her right eye in late February, 2021.
The scan had come back showing the tumour had tripled in size. Ashlee’s doctors had told her the best treatment option was to start her on intravenous chemotherapy immediately. On 11th March, 2021 Ashlee was admitted to Queensland Children’s hospital to get a Porta Cath inserted, and started chemotherapy the very next day.
Chemotherapy for Ashlee included completing twelve cycles over roughly what was an arduous eleven months of treatment.
During this period, Ashlee was on track to completing and graduating from her final days of Year 12, even finishing her English assessment hours after treatment, against her doctors’ advice.
Ashlee went on to graduate with flying colours at the top of her class, even continuing to play lawn bowls for the district, where she was selected for the Queensland Junior Squad.
Chemotherapy for Ashlee included completing twelve cycles over roughly what was an arduous eleven months of treatment.
Unfortunately, Ashlee developed an anaphylactic reaction to the drugs, and the chemotherapy ceased at the eleventh cycle in early December of 2021.
While receiving chemotherapy for her optic nerve glioma, a new lesion in the left frontal lobe had formed, which Ashlee’s doctors had been monitoring but it had progressed quite rapidly.
On 27th January, 2022, Ashlee’s doctors did a biopsy which came back as a Stage 3 paediatric-type diffuse high-grade glioma/astrocytoma.
From here, Ashlee was back in Brisbane 2 weeks later, fitted for her radiotherapy mask.
Two weeks later, she began an agonising 33 days (7 weeks) of intense radiation, Monday to Friday, between March and April 2022. Both tumours appeared to be stabilised for approximately 6 months.
Come November 2022, doctors noticed an abnormality in Ashlee’s cerebellum, so again, a new oral chemotherapy regime began along with repeat MRI’s.
In February 2023 the mass measured 16mm in axial diameter, by May it had grown to 22mm.
Ashlee continued oral chemotherapy, with another MRI review in August showing that all three of Ashlee’s tumours had grown from ‘the size of a marble to the size of a mandarin’, also to find out during another appointment in Brisbane that all three of her tumours were growing.
In the meantime, Ashlee was having injections to hopefully preserve her ovaries, as she has always wanted to be a mother. Unfortunately, this was impossible.
Ashlee is now currently on immunotherapy every 2 weeks, and another, stronger oral chemotherapy. This treatment protocol is not a cure, it will only prolong her life for as long as her body sees fit, which was the news that no parent wants to hear.
The Starlight Foundation granted Ashlee a wish, with her and her family travelling to Sydney at the end of October to attend the premiere of the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ musical, along with other family memorable moments over the 5-night stay.
Ashlee stated, “I just wanted to have a family holiday, cause I don’t think we’ve had [one] in over 10 years.”
Ashlee has a tenacity unlike any other, with a beaming smile and a go-getter attitude.
She continues to work full-time at Bunnings and playing lawn bowls for both Mackay City Bowls Club and the Queensland Under 25 Squad, despite her doctors advising her to give up on employment and sports.
She then went and compromised with her employer and doctor instead and moved to a different division within the company which everyone was happy with.
Ashlee stated that, “If you make me give up work, who knows what’s ahead of me?
“I would just go downhill really quickly.”
“Like I’ve said in previous times, there’s no point in getting angry or frustrated with it, because you can’t change the result. It is what it is, unfortunately.
“Every day is precious, so take it by the horns and try to make as many memories as we can.”
Anna went on to say, “We just want to try and make the last months, years, whatever amount of time she’s got left, the most memorable.”
“She hasn’t been given a timeframe, and I guess that’s entirely up to her body.
“If she keeps fighting the way she is…
Ashlee cuts her mother off mid-sentence with, “I’ll be here for many, many years.” She giggled.
Ashlee’s dream is to dive into crystal clear water and sleep in an ocean bungalow. Unfortunately, that dream was short-lived as she is not allowed to fly for seventeen hours to the Maldives.
Moving on to plan B, Ashlee and her mother, Anna have booked a cruise booked to Vanuatu during the week of her 20th birthday.
Supporters of Ashlee have wrangled together to create a GoFundMe page to help with expenses leading up to her dream holiday and wherever else Ashlee wants to visit while she is able.
Anna stated, “All my work colleagues have seen Ashlee grow up, and become the person she is today. That’s why they want to help.”
However, Anna also stressed the point, “It’s not about asking for help, our family doesn’t ask for help.
“It’s about getting awareness out there, especially for young people, that can look up to Ashlee to be an inspiration to keep fighting. Don’t ever give up!
“Most times as soon as young people get told this news, it can be downhill from there.
“We’ve climbed 30 mountains, and she’s still come out the other side. She’ll keep fighting until the very end.”
“It’s about reaching out to the community to see how truly amazing she is, if you’ve ever had the privilege to know her, you will know and see that this young lady is
“Strong minded, strong willed and strong to keep fighting. Nothing gets the better of her.
“She’ll never let you down. She’d give you the shirt off her back even if it meant she would freeze, that’s just the type of person she is.”
“To go through what she has been through in the last three and a half years, and to still have a smile on her face every day, it just blows me away.
“I have no idea where she gets her strength and courage from, but if someone can take a page out of her book, they won’t ever look back.
“She’s full of life and she’ll keep being full of life with that beautiful smile of hers.”
Ashlee is a beloved member of the Mackay community, an unstoppable force and a beam of positive light in an ominous situation.
Ashlee’s advice to herself and others facing similar downfalls is to ‘never give up’.
To help Ashlee achieve her dream holiday, find her GoFundMe page at: gofundme.com/f/help-ashlee-achieve-her-dreams
Cover – Ashlee dressed up for her Year 12 ball
Ashlee in her lawn bowls attire
Ashlee in hospital finishing off her school studies
Ashlee staying positive through chemotherapy (Photo Credit: Anna Knight)
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