THE Mildura community is rallying behind local 11-year-old, Ruby Barnes, as she continues her battle against a rare cancer in Adelaide.
When a lump appeared on Ruby's collarbone in February, her mother started to have concerns about her daughter's health.
But it was harder than she imagined to get doctors to consider it was something more serious than a common virus.
"It was just put down to a virus and we were told to just go home, these can go away," Ruby's mother, Kameo Te Rangi, said.
"It was very, very frustrating and I just felt down and like I knew there was something wrong. But I just kept thinking that I was overreacting. It was all very mentally hard."
Even after several rounds of antibiotics, a CT scan and a chest X-ray at the hospital, doctors still thought the lump was most likely caused by a virus.
It wasn't until the lump grew and a paediatrician urged her not to miss Ruby's ear, nose and throat appointment in Adelaide, Ms Te Rangi felt her maternal instincts were proved right.
"He didn't tell me his outright opinion but I could see it on his face and he said how very important it was to get her to that ear, nose, throat appointment," she said. "He was going to try and put us on (Mildura's) waiting list but that it could take a while so if I already had an appointment, which I did, that I needed to jump on it and fly her there."
After a neck biopsy, Ms Te Rangi was told her daughter had the rare cancer nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
"I asked if it could be her tonsils or could it be her adenoids or her thyroid. I think I was just hoping for it to be anything else than what it was," Ms Te Rangi said.
Ms Te Rangi was informed the cancer started in her nose and had since spread to her lymph nodes and Ruby would need to stay for immediate chemo treatments in Adelaide.
Since the diagnosis Ruby has been strong beyond her years, her mother says.
"Ruby has blown me away because she wanted to know the ins and the outs and how treatable it was and asks the doctors all these questions," Ms Te Rangi said.
"Now that it's the fourth of six rounds of treatments, she has decided to take a bit of a step back and let Mum take all those question on."
Ruby's parents have set up a GoFundMe page, where people can donate to help the family raise $5000.
Ruby's father and younger brother have had to stay behind in Mildura while Ms Te Rangi and Ruby are in Adelaide. Some of the funds will go towards fixing their car so Ruby can see her family more often.
Although the chemotherapy is going well so far, Ruby still has a long battle to go, and will begin radiation treatment soon.
Ms Te Rangi said her daughter is the bravest person she knows.
"She just astounds me, she just makes the best of any situation," she said.
Donations to the fundraising campaign for Ruby can be made at gofundme.com/f/rubys-cancer-journey.