When Tara Doyle was old enough to understand cancer and its evil tendency to take people's lives, the seven-year-old took to her street to busk with a blue ukulele.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"I wanted people with cancer to have the best cancer cure medicine ever so that if they are dying they live a bit longer," she said.
The Majura Primary School student was over the moon when she raised $28 off passersby, which her mother Rebecca donated to the Cancer Council ACT.
But soon after the kind gesture that Tara hoped would help strangers, she discovered her own beloved grandma, her "Juju," had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Sadly, Judith lost the battle to the disease in June.
The devastated but determined young girl stepped up her fundraising efforts and with the help of Ms Doyle began an online fundraising page.
They smashed their goal of $700 in less than 24 hours and in three weeks garnered more than $3000.
"My Juju had cancer and she died. I love her and I miss her and I loved to read stories with her," Tara said.
"If anyone else has cancer out there I hope they get better."
Ms Doyle said Tara took the time to type "thank you" to every person who donated to their everydayhero page, whether friend or stranger.
And because every cent counts, she can still be seen playing her ukulele outside her house with a hand-made sign that reads "Thank you, your money is going to fihte cansa! [sic]".
While Ms Doyle is extremely proud of her daughter, it seems her friends are too. Tara's fundraising effort was the subject of her classmate's speech about role models.
"It has been a very tough few months. Tara and mum had a very tight bond. But I'm amazed at what she's done," Ms Doyle said.
"This has also been nice for me and my grief. Her seeing the bigger picture and wanting to help others kind of opens your eyes about your own trauma that you go through and puts a shining light on something so awful."
The two were overwhelmed with the community's support and were considering bumping up their fundraising target.
"We started with $700 because [seven] is Tara's age and raised it to $3000 and nine cents because her favourite number is nine, so we'll have to have a think about what we do next," Ms Doyle said.
For the month of November, the mother and daughter committed to wearing purple every day to raise awareness for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
Tara's everydayhero page is at give.everydayhero.com/au/tara-s-fight-against-cansa. Ms Doyle said all proceeds would go to the Cancer Council ACT.
