MissingSchool CEO, Megan Gilmour, was featured in an article from The Canberra Times on 24 April 2026. Click Here
When Niamh Graham complained of chest pain she was initially told it
might have been strain from pulling her luggage.
When it didn’t go away, she was then told it might have been her rib
cage joining onto her sternum.
Niamh’s mum Trin Graham said seven weeks later when her doctor
was back in Orange, NSW, she thought it was worth investigating
further.
“She went to school for a normal school day, and then when I got her
scan at two o’clock in the afternoon we had the scan and never went
Home,
” Ms Graham said.
Multiple tumours were detected throughout her body. Niamh had
rhabdomyosarcoma stage four. Ms Graham and Niamh were told to go
straight to Orange Hospital and from there were flown to Sydney.
Niamh, a year 11 student at Kinross Wolaroi School, has already missed
a month of school this year. She’ll miss at least another four as she
continues intensive treatment in Sydney.
MissingSchool has donated a robot to the Grahams to help her learn
remotely. The robot is essentially an iPad on a rolling frame. It’s in the
classroom and turns to whomever is speaking while Niamh follows
along from her laptop in Sydney.
“It’s obviously really hard because I’m not there with all my friends
and teachers. It’s hard to get motivated to start the work and do the
assessment tasks that I need to do. But this is life now, so you sort of
have to adapt to it,
” Niamh said.
Ms Graham said she won’t only miss school while she’s undergoing
treatment. For the next two years she’ll continue to undergo tests and
checks to ensure she doesn’t relapse.
MissingSchool found 55 per cent of the students they supported fall
behind academically and face increased anxiety.
About half of the students experience decreased social support and 40
per cent have reintegration difficulties or school refusal.
The Grahams and MissingSchool are calling on the Australian
government to recognise the 1.2 million children across the country
who are missing months, or years, of school due to complex or chronic
health conditions.
MissingSchool chief executive officer Megan Gilmour said she wanted
the government to develop school attendance measurements that
distinguish serious medical conditions from minor illness and to
make telepresence technology – like Niamh’s robot – a standard
accommodation for students who can’t physically attend school.
“It would mean these children are finally counted, connected, and
supported to keep learning alongside their classmates, instead of
disappearing from the roll and from view. For families, it would end
the exhausting fight to secure basic educational continuity during the
hardest time of their lives.
“
Right now, Niamh has to show she’s making an effort in each subject.
In year 12 she has to complete at least 51 per cent of the course.
“It’s really important that she gets special consideration because she’s
quite disadvantaged compared to if she was living a normal, cancer-
free life,
” Ms Graham said.
Before her diagnosis, Niamh had been a healthy 16-year-old who loved
adventure. She had been on exchange at a boarding school in South
Africa and then in America during the September school holidays.
Ad“The only thing I had was chest pain and my breathing was really,
really impacted. There was no sickness or anything,
” Niamh said.
Being so healthy has already benefited Niamh in her recovery.
“That was a big help because she had to go on the highest level of
chemo they’re legally allowed to give her. That’s the same with the
radiation. But her body’s so strong it’s been able to manage the
treatment load that she’s been on,
” Ms Graham said.
“It really has been a wild ride because we got news [on Monday] that
she’s cancer free, which is like a medical miracle.
“
Niamh said it had been fantastic to hear the news. She admitted she
had a bit of a cry and was quite shocked. However, days later she was
still “on a bit of a high” from learning the clinical trial had been
Successful.
Despite the tumours being gone, Niamh will still be required to
undergo chemotherapy and radiation.
Niamh’s goal for when she finishes school is to go into acting and law.
While she’s on a different adventure now to the international ones she
was on last year, she’s staying positive.
Her advice for others is to be strong.
“Don’t give up on things. You never really know how strong you are
until you’re faced with adversity in your life. Like if you’re having a
hard test and you don’t know any of the questions, just don’t give up
on it. And also, just believe in yourself,
” she said.
“Knowing that you can get through it is the biggest thing you can take
out of anything in life.”
