Tash is our amazing Canberra mum…

Posted on 9 May, 2014

It is my absolute pleasure to announce the winner of our Canberra Centre Mother’s Day competition. Tash Maguire will receive a $300 Canberra Centre Gift Card and a personal styling session with one of the Centre’s professional stylists; a personal make-up application by the team at Napoleon Perdis; and an Aveda ‘Moment of Wellness’ – a 10 minute neck/shoulder massage and a 10-15 minute deluxe hand soak and massage.

Now, a disclaimer. Tash has been a friend of mine for 15 years…so when I received the entry nominating her, I passed on responsibility for shortlisting the 60+ entries we received to our intern. From there, it was over to the lovely peeps at Canberra Centre, who took on the difficult task of picking a winner. No one involved in the judging process was aware that  I know Tash, but she was a unanimous choice..and here’s why. This is the nomination we received from Barb Fisher:

“Tash’s second child, Maya, was born in December 2011 with a rare form of childhood cancer, not seen before in a newborn baby in this country. From that moment onwards, Tash, her husband Mark and their young daughter Amelia’s lives changed completely.

Maya’s illness required surgery in Sydney, followed up by chemotherapy from within a couple of weeks of being born. This was not entirely successful, and more surgery and radical radiation followed – something Tash had to fight tooth and nail for, as the doctors were not 100% in agreement that it would be successful. Tash never, ever gave up fighting for her child. The doctors finally agreed to pursue radiation therapy for Maya at Tash’s insistence.

Throughout this whole time, Tash spent much of her time in Sydney with Maya, whilst somehow managing to keep the rest of her family in Canberra together and functioning. And beyond all expectations, the radiation was successful. After many, many long months of fighting hard to keep her daughter alive, there was a brief reprieve when Maya was declared free of cancer for the first time in her little life. Some semblance of normal life was possible for the very first time since Maya had been born!

A couple of months into this normal life, during a family holiday to take Maya to visit friends in the Northern Territory for the very first time, Tash felt a lump on Maya’s thigh. Rushing back to hospital in Sydney, they received the unfortunate news that Maya’s cancer had returned, and with a vengeance.

Still fighting for her child every step of the way, Tash managed to get Maya accepted on a new drug trial – but unfortunately Maya became too unwell to be able to start the course of treatment. Only a few months later, just days before her 2nd birthday, Maya passed away peacefully, just as gorgeous and cheeky and smiley as she always was, right to the very end.

Not one to wallow in her own self pity, Tash decided there must be something she could do to make the lives of seriously ill children better, to make their often long stays in hospital all the more enjoyable. She established Warming Beautiful Souls, a charity that accepts donations of clothes, toys and gifts for babies and children of all ages to enjoy during their hospital visits.

Originally only based in Canberra, Tash has expanded the network to all major centres of Australia, working tirelessly to ensure that others who have to endure the same experiences they did, may do so with a few more smiles along the way.

Why does she deserve this makeover prize?

From the day Maya was born in Dec 2011, Tash’s life became solely about her sick child, fighting for her life every single day. Days, weeks and months spent in hospital wards. For two entire years, she dedicated every waking moment to her family.

After Maya’s passing in Nov 2013, Tash didn’t simply forget about the other amazing families they had met along the way. She has worked tirelessly on turning Warming Beautiful Souls into a sizeable charity that makes a real difference to others in the very situation she herself was thrown into two years earlier.

I don’t remember the last time Tash was able to do anything just for herself. Purely for her own enjoyment and peace of mind. A Canberra Centre Mother’s Day pampering experience might just give her the time she needs to find herself again, to regain confidence in who SHE is on her own, not just as the most amazing mother any child could ever hope to have in their corner.”

Thank you to everyone who sent in entries – there were some incredible nominations. Congratulations also to Sarah Malamai and Rebecca Jeffreys who are our runners up and who have each won a Dendy Premium Lounge double pass.

Happy Mother’s Day, Tash – you are a truly remarkable woman. And to all those other mums who are doing it tough, have lost children, or women who can’t be mums, or desperately want to be – we’ll be thinking of you x