It's been a crazy few days for 11-year-old Maddie McKenzie.

Last Thursday, she was in Starship having her second course of chemotherapy and on Saturday, 17 of her friends started arriving at 10am for a dragon cake and pool party to celebrate her 11th birthday. Next, she's in Waihi helping mum organise a Warehouse pop-up store.

And yesterday, she was back at school with her friends for a few hours. She loves school, and loves her friends there.

'She might be sick, but she's got stamina and determination,” says mum Anita. 'The last of her friends didn't leave the party until after 11pm and we were watching a supernatural horror film called Conjurer.”

But Maddie, born Madison, is sick. She's dealing with DIPG – diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, an aggressive tumor on the brain stem. It has affected her speech, it has affected her mobility but it hasn't affected her attitude.

'I am a dragon lover,” she says. That's why she has a bearded dragon in a lizard tank in her bedroom rather than dolls. 'I don't like girlie things.” And that's why she had a green dragon on her birthday cake rather than a princess or a fairy.

And amongst the dragon cake, horse and trap rides and water fights in the swimming pool, the guys from Farmer Auto Village called. They've offered to assist with a vehicle below cost that's suitable for Maddie's needs.

That's a blessing for the family because Maddie's illness came at a time when they were financially strapped. And they desperately need an appropriate car to get a sick little girl back and forth from Starship and around town.

Next week Maddie McKenzie is back in Auckland's Starship Hospital for more chemotherapy. 'She has a lot more movement now. She was great after the party, it was a very long day but she managed,” says Anita.