RUBY Rose may only be nine years old but she’s already had to deal with more as a child than others face in a lifetime.
The brave little Sydney girl is the daughter of Chloe Waterlow who was stabbed to death by her brother Anthony Waterlow in an incident that shocked the harbour city in 2009.
Ruby was just two years old at the time Waterlow killed Chloe and their father, the world-renowned art curator Nick Waterlow in her Randwick home. Sadly, Ruby was also injured, and her brothers Will, four, and James, four months, were also there at the time of the murders.
Gallery curator Nick Waterlow, 68, and cookbook author daughter Chloe, 37, were both found murdered in her Clovelly Road, Randwick home on 2009.
Father Ben Heuston holding his injured daughter Ruby in 2009.
Ruby used to enjoy running, netball and horseriding.
Ben Heuston with his daughter Ruby Rose.
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Waterlow was found not guilty of the murders due to mental illness and has been in a psychiatric facility since his arrest.
Meanwhile Chloe’s husband Ben Heuston has preferred not to dwell on the tragedy and has never spoken publicly about his wife since her funeral.
But the family are now being forced to face another challenge after little Ruby was diagnosed with aggressive leukaemia when she was just eight years old. The night she was taken to hospital, she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and doctors warned the family she may only live for another day.
“She (Ruby) walked into hospital one night, and she woke up the next day and she was blind and they said ‘she’s going to die’,” Mr Heuston told Mamamia in an emotional interview.
Miraculously Ruby pulled through but the disease left her permanently blind and she will need chemotherapy for another two years. The once-active little girl has also had to learn how to walk again.
Mr Heuston is appealing for public support to help the family hire a fulltime carer for Ruby to help her adjust to living life without sight. It’s the support her mother would have been able to provide if she had lived.
When asked whether he ever thought it was “not fair” that his family had to deal with so many challenges, Mr Heuston said it was important to remain positive.
“If you think like that, and things have not worked well for you, then you’re going to be a sad individual,” he said.
“Whether it’s a big tragedy or somebody’s normal life, there’s always things that don’t go well, and it’s not necessarily what happens, it’s kinda how you deal with it.”
Contribute to Ruby’s fundraiser at YouCaring.
Originally published as Tragedy strikes again for Waterlow family
