'It's definitely one of those things you don't want to hear or believe.” But Alicia Necklen had to believe it, had to accept her two-year-old boy had cancer.

'Now it's fine; it's almost like a bit of a distant memory now that we're on the other side,” says the Tauranga mother-of-three. 'But in the beginning it was definitely massive, it was life-changing for us. You never think it'd be you or your family.

'Now I look back and think of it in a positive way; that it changed us and our family for the better. But it was definitely very challenging, especially having a young baby as well at the time.”

Max, now eight years old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2010.

'He'd been quite unwell for a few months; quite lethargic, really pale, and wasn't eating very well. He'd wake up in the night with pains all in his legs; he'd wake up screaming.”

Initially, doctors couldn't find anything wrong but Mum persisted. 'About four weeks later I was like: ‘This isn't right, he's definitely not well'.”

Alicia was expecting anemia or something viral, but was instead given the diagnosis of cancer.

'I went and asked for a blood test and found out that night. He was pretty unwell and we got sent straight to Tauranga Hospital and the next day to Starship [Children's Health]. They started treatment straight away.”

Max has two brothers Finn, 6, and Isaac, 2. Isaac was born when Max was coming off his treatment and Finn was six months old when his big brother was diagnosed.

'Finn and Isaac have got their own sibling beads of courage and they think they're pretty special,” says Alicia. And they are. 'They [the boys] have got such a strong bond.”

Max is now fully cleared of cancer, says Mum, who describes her eldest son as a normal eight-year-old kid who loves soccer and climbing trees.

'He's an awesome kid. He does really well at school, he just got a principal's award recently.

'He's really quite diligent, tries really hard and loves sport. He plays soccer and does BMX. He's really affectionate and sensitive but also a sporty, boisterous boy too.”

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby is ‘Shaving His Lid For A Brave Kid' on March 12 as part of the Child Cancer Foundation Mount Beach Bald FunRazor at Mount Main Beach.

He will be doing it with children like Max in mind. 'It's a very small sacrifice for me, but the cause is enormous of course.

'I've been fortunate that no one in my family has had a child with cancer. But if it did happen you'd want to support the Child Cancer Foundation in Tauranga because they do give amazing support to families in Tauranga who do have children with cancer.”

For more information, or to donate, visit mountbeachbald2016.everydayhero.com/nz/stuart-2