Cattle farming can be hard work, especially when you get a cow that doesn’t want to cooperate. When Ella turned 16 in July, though, and was helping with cattle on her uncle and grandparent’s farm, she was relishing an experience she could only dream about when undergoing treatment for leukaemia.

“I enjoy doing it because I spend time with my family,” says Ella of farm work. “When I was sick we couldn’t go out of Sydney because we had to be close to the hospital in case I spiked a temperature or there were other complications.”

At that time her family’s 300-hectare farm with 100 head of cattle, just outside Taree, was beyond her reach. Today, she has been free of cancer for five years and anything is possible.

“It didn’t happen overnight,” remembers her mother, Allison. “It was a process of recovering physically, gaining confidence, and getting back into things like sport. Ella had gaps in schoolwork, and she worked hard trying to bridge those gaps, so it wasn’t an overnight recovery.

"Life is quite normal now and there’s really nothing she can’t do or doesn’t do.”

Despite having the busy agenda of a sporty, studious and social Year 10 student, Ella still finds time to cook an impressive array of meals and deserts with a talent that may be inherited.

“I’ve always liked cooking and baking because my grandma baked a lot and I’d just sit in the kitchen with her for as long as I can remember,” says Ella, who recently gave a gift of blueberry muffins to staff in the oncology clinic.

“Baking is a bit of a hobby and I have an Instagram account that I post my baking and cooking on. I started that during COVID-19 precautions when social distancing came in.”

Looking back, Ella feels her leukaemia experience gave her a new outlook. “It’s definitely an important part of my history in how it developed me as a person and I think, in a way, I’m a bit more considerate of other people’s needs because everyone was there for me when I was sick so it’s just sort of like giving back a little bit.” Looking forward, though, there is a world of possibility, where being with family, and doing things together on the farm, is a highlight.

Take a look at some of Ella’s cooking on Instagram @my_kitchen_snap.

Try Ella’s delicious blueberry muffin recipe for a sweet snack.

Blueberry muffins

Ingredients 

2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup sugar 
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt 
1/3 cup oil 
1 egg
1 cup milk 
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries 

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees 
• Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl 
• Add oil, eggs, and milk in a smaller bowl and mix together 
• Add wet mixture to the dry mixture. Add in parts. 
• Mix in the blueberries 
• Then add the mixture to the patty pans 
• Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes