Face of the Good Friday Appeal feels at home at CFA

Rohan Stevens, a volunteer firefighter for 30 years, and his wife Misty Stevens never thought their family would need to benefit from the world class services at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH). 

Their son Jack began to lose his speech and have seizures.  

“I remember thinking as a parent, ‘everything is going to be okay; it’s going to be alright,” Misty said.  

At just 15 months old Jack, the face of the 2025 Good Friday Appeal, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, wrapped around a part of the brain responsible for learning and development.  

“It was one of those world crashing down moments,” Rohan said. 

“I remember being taken into a room and the surgeon telling me they had found a brain tumor and that I should call my family to come to the hospital because Jack wouldn’t be going home in the near future,” Misty said.  

Jack then had to stay in the hospital for weeks, he had to spend a week in a cot, attached to machines to film and monitor him at all times to record any seizures. 

“Just before his second birthday Jack had surgery to remove that brain tumor,” Rohan said.   

“I remember driving him to the hospital on the day of the surgery and just looking back at him thinking is this the last time I am going to see him,” Misty said.   

Jack was also undergoing treatment during the COVD-19 pandemic which added another layer of stress.  

Jack's surgery went well however, he had a long road ahead of him and now at six years old he still attends regular appointments at RCH to help support his recovery.   

 “Jack is one of the lucky kids where we had a favorable outcome,” Rohan said.   

“But he has had to relearn how to talk, relearn how to walk, relearn his fine motor skills but here he is now, and he started grade one this year and he is really moving along.”  

“He is a very bright, bubbly and active young boy.”  

Jack feels right at home in a CFA station with his dad volunteering with the Epping Fire Brigade for 25 years. Rohan is also the Hume Group Officer and said their family felt the arms of CFA wrap around them when they became the ones who needed to benefit from the cause he had always passionately supported.  

“Jack’s story has given that additional sense of purpose to the brigade and us as a family,” Rohan said.  

“That is what saved Jack’s life.”  

Rohan urges people to “give generously” in this year's Good Friday Appeal.   

“Dig deep and donate as much as you can so we can see more success stories like Jack’s,” Rohan said.   

“Here at CFA we really hear that call to action and really throw our weight behind the Good Friday Appeal.”  

Jack might not remember a whole lot about his experience, but he doesn’t hesitate to look to the future and says he wants to be a firefighter “just like daddy”.