'Is my son going to die?': One-year-old Huxley King faces harrowing battle

There were grand plans to celebrate this milestone with a lavish party surrounded by family and friends, all while the couple were busily preparing for the arrival of their second baby, who is due in April.

But within a week, everything changed.

Huxley was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer on his left lung, a Malignant Rhabdoid tumour.

"So basically three weeks ago, he was fine, healthy, happy, learning to walk and just all the normal kiddie stuff," Ms Francis said.

"Then just after Christmas he got COVID and we dealt with that at home, he was okay, and then on the 8^th of January, he just wasn't himself so I took him to the doctors."

The doctor prescribed a simple medication, and Ms Francis took Huxley home, but when his condition wasn't improving, she decided to take him to the hospital.

It was then that they discovered a significant amount of fluid on his left lung, so much so, that his lung had collapsed.

He was transported to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, where they were set to operate and drain the fluid.

"The next day, which was the 15^th, they took him for surgery and gave him a chest drain and in the midst of that they found a tumour," Ms Francis said.

A biopsy was taken, and from this, it was discovered that the tumour contained cancerous cells.

Due to the type of cancer, chemotherapy would have to start immediately.

"They said the type of tumour that he has is quite aggressive and smart, so if we don't do it [chemo] more frequently and change the strains of the chemotherapy, the cancer outsmarts it," Ms Francis said.

Now the family have been left with several questions regarding the health of their son. They have to face the reality that Huxley could spend months, if not years in hospital.

And there's no certainty that he will survive.

"When I found out, I was pretty much just sobbing and I asked 'is my son going to die?' and the nurse said to me 'I will tell you if you should be worried, and right now we have to be really hopeful," Ms Francis said.

"But she did say to us that they have kids that come in and they have a really curable cancer but they still unfortunately pass away, but others might have his type of cancer and survive."

Because of this diagnosis, the family have started a GoFundMe page to try and supplement their incomes, as both Ms Francis and Mr King have been unable to work during this time.

And because there are no overnight rooms for parents to stay in the PICU, the family - who moved from Bathurst to Penrith a few years ago - have to travel to the hospital every day.

This is something they will have to do for the foreseeable future, until the tumour has significantly reduced in size, and Huxley can go home.

So far, the GoFundMe has received more than $20,000 in donations, and Ms Francis said she was extremely grateful for all those who have generously donated.

Now, the weight of the financial burden has been lifted off their shoulders, and they can fully focus on the health of Huxley, who, according to Ms Francis, is in relatively good spirits.

"He has been really good and I think that makes me feel a little bit better as a parent because he is such a fighter and is in good spirits despite everything," she said.

"But he was normally bright and bubbly and laughing at everything, and now he is just in bed on a breathing machine with a dummy in his mouth, laying there."

But the battle isn't over yet, as the form of cancer could possibly be genetic and there is a chance that Ms Francis' unborn child could one day face the same battle.

"And that's so horrifying because we don't want to have to go through this with another child," she said.

"It's just something that you and your family should never have to go through."