They are the most tragic cases: children in the final throes of fatal illnesses.
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Now, a $6 million investment will help those beautiful kids through their final days.
The money is to be spent expanding Clare Holland House, the hospice on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin.
Eight new rooms are to be built in the complex - and one of those rooms is to be fitted out especially for children.
Children with terminal illness often spend their final days at home, but a few do need specialist care - and they go to Clare Holland House.
At the moment, they stay in adult beds. Their families can stay with them, but they sleep in the same room on a sofa bed.
The money will give those kids purpose-built beds to suit their needs. The room will be bright. The family will have a proper bed on which to sleep near to their young loved one. The funds come from the federal and ACT governments and from the Snow Foundation, founded by the Snow family which owns the airport, the neighbouring business park and shopping centre.
The federal government will provide $4 million and the Snow Foundation, $2 million. The ACT government will fund the ongoing running of the facility.
The hospice's medical director, Dr Suharsha Kanathigoda, said that such a collaboration was unique.
He was asked two years ago why more spending on end-of-life care was necessary. He said he replied to his questioners from the Snow Foundation: "Because you might need the help in the future."
"Everybody will need palliative care unless they get hit by a bus," he said. "When people need our help, they really need it."
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The argument was persuasive.
"The Snow Foundation is delighted to be able to help bring the expansion project to fruition," chief executive Georgina Byron said.
"We know it will help thousands in our community for years to come and everyone is welcome to contribute to this expansion if they would like to".
They are also launching a public appeal to raise money for some of the furniture and for landscaping.
The hospice, which is part of Calvary Health Care, serves the ACT and the surrounding region, which has a total population of about 700,000 people.
Dr Kanathigoda said the extra rooms would ease the need to prioritise who gets palliative care.
It's estimated the eight new rooms will allow about 240 people a year to live in Clare Holland House in their final days.
The medical director puts the emphasis of his and the hospice's work not so much on death, but on people's quality of life, albeit in their final days.
"These eight extra beds will be a huge help to allow people to live their lives to the fullest, with dignity and comfort at the end of their lives," Dr Kanathigoda said.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
