Beyond The Wish - Lochy
Meet Lochy Bankes-Fay, whose wish came true in 2015.
Lochy faced and beat luekaemia six times. And now Lochy is a Make-A-Wish volunteer inspiring a new generation of Wish kids.
Beyond The Wish is our series of inspirational reads exploring the impact of wishes long after they have been delivered.
Bedside visit inspires Lochy to volunteer
A strong feeling overcame Lochy Bankes-Fay as he sat in a hospital chair talking to a bed-ridden young man struck down with leukaemia.
The young man, Samuel, had grown up in the same parts of Melbourne as Lochy.
They weren’t close but when Lochy was told Samuel had leukaemia just like he once had, Lochy felt the pull to visit him.
The similarities didn’t end there. Both boys also had Make-A-Wish grant them wishes.
“I went and saw him two days before he ended up passing away,” Lochy said. “And his wish, which happened two weeks earlier, was all he was talking about, even though he was not in good shape.
“The wish was what he talked about the whole time. Talking about the wish was the only thing making him smile.”
Then something happened that Lochy didn’t forsee.
“I remember I was sitting there next to him saying to myself ‘I have to go and volunteer for Make-A-Wish’. I just thought I have got to do it for him. And for myself,” Lochy said.
Not long after, Lochy signed up and has been a Make-A-Wish volunteer since February 2023.
New therapy saves 'miracle boy'
Lochy was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was 11 years old. The leukaemia would return to his body a further five times.
Lochy had six years of intense chemotherapy, one bone marrow transplant, one stem cell transplant (from younger brother Ryley) and two CAR T-cell therapies.
The CAR T-cell therapy was a trial when doctors told Lochy about it.
Normally costing one million dollars, Lochy’s cells were taken out of his body and sent to the USA and super-charged, before returning to Australia – and Lochy’s body –with the ability to fight the leukaemia cells.
Mum Melinda describes him as her “miracle boy”.
Twice, Melinda and the rest of Lochy’s family prepared to say goodbye to him.
Once was when he was put in a coma for three weeks, unable to breathe because of a bacterial and fungal infection in his lungs.
“My husband and l and our three other children were told to say goodbye to Lochy before they put him under sedation as there was a high possibility at that stage in his illness that he would pass away,” Melinda said.
“Every day for three weeks was like living on a knife's edge.”
Ultimately, a second batch of CART T-cells saved Lochy’s life.
“After CAR T the second time I got a tattoo on my arm,” Lochy said.
“It’s a boxer with the numbers 6-0. It means I beat cancer six times. But I reckon I have got nine lives!”.
Lochy focuses in on his Wish
Lochy got his wish from Make-A-Wish during his second round of intense chemotherapy.
He wished from a camera. It was a way for Lochy to see his world through a different lens.
“The wish was a distraction from what was going on,” Lochy said.
“The wish was almost an escape from reality. It’s the only thing you want to think about as everything else in your life is kind of negative.
“You are overcome with a lot of negative emotions, such an anxiety.”
Lochy said while he loved photography, the fact he could still hold and use a camera while he was physically weak was also a factor.
Make-A-Wish organised a professional photographer to show Lochy all the bells and whistles on the camera.
“I took the camera on some trips away,” Lochy said.
“It was definitely something that carried me through those tough times.
“I could go out in public, take photos and be myself.”
'Volunteering gives my life purpose'
Lochy is certain he will remember his wish forever. In his role as a Make-A-Wish volunteer, he sometimes tells Wish kids and parents that he was once on the other side of the fence.
Telling his own story, Lochy said, gives them hope that it is possible to make it through the tough times.
"When you get something from Make-A-Wish that you love or that you can use, and you look back much later you realise it’s something that helped you get through the bad times," Lochy said.
“I absolutely think I made the right decision to become a volunteer. It gives my life more purpose.
“I think I will always make time for Make-A-Wish.
“At the Cardinia-Casey Branch we want to raise money to grant more wishes. I want to keep Make-A-Wish going for years and years to come.”
Picture: Lochy (far right) with younger brother Ryley who donated stem cells to Lochy.
Mum Melinda can’t hide how proud she is of Lochy joining Make-A-Wish.
She said he relates to people easily, using humour to make connections.
“Humour is Lochy’s thing,” Melinda said.
“Lochy never asked ‘why me?’. In all of those years, all of those horrific treatments, side effects, spinal taps, radiation, the list goes on … he never ever asked ‘why me?’.
“Lochy is my hero times a million. He is everybody’s hero: to friends, to family, to work colleagues, to acquaintances, to strangers all over the world.”
