Day at the zoo helps young animal lover make up for lost time

By the time animal-lover Maddie reached kindergarten, she'd already relapsed with a vicious form of blood cancer.

She was first diagnosed with leukemia at two-and-a-half years old and underwent chemotherapy, total body radiation, a bone marrow transplant and 12 months of isolation.

"I think it was worse the second time, because we knew what we were in for," mum Bec told A Current Affair.

READ MORE: The 'incredible impact' of a charity boosting up children in their cancer battles

"It was like you're just thrown in the deep end of a pool. You can't swim, and you had to find your way up to the water."

Maddie's road to recovery has been bumpy and healing has taken courage, but now seven years old, she is cancer free. 

Having spent four years in hospital, she's missed out on much of her childhood. 

So A Current Affair and the Starlight Children's Foundation stepped in to give Maddie a special Taronga Zoo experience she would never forget.

READ MORE: Fearless eight-year-old's Lego Masters surprise after Christmas in hospital

Starlight Children's Foundation chief executive Louise Baxter said the program completely relies on public donations to support sick children in every hospital around the country, along with in 140 remote Indigenous communities.

"It lifts everyone and to get the child engaged in something that's really positive that they want on the other side of treatment, that just changes everything," Baxter said.

"We really ask people to dig deep and think about any contribution they can make to helping us let more children know by Christmas that their Starlight wish is going to be granted."

The Starlight Children's Foundation is asking the community to get behind their Christmas appeal, which aims to raise $1.1 million by Christmas to grant 498 Starlight Wishes to seriously ill children.

You can donate at starlight.org.au