Cops’ miracle-kid
daughter

Sergeants Chris and Dianne Reynolds could pass for the most relieved cops in South Australia. But not because they made a breakthrough arrest, solved a serious crime or won a difficult court case.

The smiles and relief on the Reynolds’ faces come from the remarkable recovery and continuing good health of their 12-year-old daughter, Amy, who almost died of a rare cancer four years ago. Today, she tackles life head-on, and completely clear of the disease.

“She’s into everything and has a will to live like there’s no ‘get-out’,” says an elated Dianne, 42. “It’s amazing. She’s in grade six at Hahndorf Primary; she’s a scout; she goes to pony club, and she’s just started netball.

“She’s very strong-minded and a very active little thing. We’re very proud of our girl. I think she’s wonderful.”

Amy faced the toughest battle of her life at the age of just eight, after a deadly Wilms tumour burst in her abdomen in 1999. The tumour had grown 12cms up from her left kidney, and into her heart.

Then, already in the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital for chemotherapy, she had only one hope – an operation. But surgeons warned her then distraught parents that her chances of survival remained extremely slim.

Ever the fighter, however, Amy battled her way through a five-hour operation, in which the surgeons removed both the tumour and her kidney, and performed open-heart surgery. To the medicos’ surprise, and her parents’ overwhelming delight, she survived, and earned the nickname Miracle Kid.

In the years that followed, Amy’s life became a rigorous series of blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds and endless echocardiographs. Chemotherapy continued, too, but wound up 18 months ago.

And, just recently, Amy’s check-ups have stretched from three- to six-month intervals. “That’s a big milestone for us,” says Dianne, “because every time (we have a check-up), we go that one step further. We’re getting there.”

Amy’s heartening progress only has to continue for another 12 months – to the five-year mark since the operation – before the experts will regard her as in remission. After 10 years, without any setbacks, she can rightly regard herself as cured.

Of the time when Amy’s life truly hung in the balance, Chris, 43, and Dianne still live with some chilling images. “I still have horrendous nightmares about it,” says Dianne.

“That next morning after the operation, she was on life support. I still have visions of going in to see her, this little, frail child with all these tubes coming out of her in this sealed room. That’s left with me.

“I have visions of the hospital chaplain and doctor telling us that, if they operate, she probably won’t live, and that, if they don’t operate, she won’t live.

Sergeants Chris and Dianne Reynolds, with daughter, Amy, and (below) as they appeared on the Oct 2000 cover of the Police Journal.

“It still cuts deep... to the core. But to someone who hasn’t been through a trauma like that, it’s very hard to explain.”

As well, times get a little tense around the Reynolds house just before check-ups, and Amy has to face another just before Christmas. For Dianne, the tension comes from a fear of finding “shadows in whatever parts of the body”.

“We know we’re not going to be clear for a long time,” she says. “It’s not going to sit easy for us for a while.”

In Amy’s comeback from the brink of death, however, Chris and Dianne have naturally taken great heart. Just watching her become well again inspires them, and enables each to carry on.

In October 2000 – 12 months after Amy’s operation – the Reynolds chose to tell their story to the Police Journal. Today, they concede that “it was tough” to do, but both Chris and Dianne also found “it was a release”.

“It was good for the healing process,” says Dianne. “Because of the article, a lot of people contacted us and wished Amy well. We were able to talk more freely about it.”

Chris even had an out-of-the-blue visit from a colleague, whom he had never met. The officer, a police prosecutor, had a daughter who had suffered the same condition as had Amy.

Says Chris: “It actually floored me that day the prosecutor walked in, and said: ‘You don’t know me, but...’ and just poured it out. He said: ‘There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Stick with it’.

“I thought: ‘Wow, you’ve come in, out of your way, just to speak to me. That’s great’. It certainly opened my eyes up to the wider police family.”

Amy hopes one day to be a teacher so that she might help children. But, with her siblings – Sam, 14, and Georgia, 8 – her immediate future seems likely to involve plenty of trips, horse-riding and endless fun. Chris and Dianne have taken Amy’s brush with death as “an awakening”, and so plan to leave no adventure untried.

With their new four-wheel drive, caravan, horses and float, they plan to “get out there” and see Australia. “We often get too hung up about our careers,” says Chris, “and life’s slipping by.

“So, every chance we get, we head off for holidays. The kids enjoy it, and they’re gaining so much life experience.”

Dianne agrees, and adds: “It (Amy’s crisis) has altered our lives. That was a good thing that came out of it.”