What would you do if you were suddenly told you had just weeks left to live?
Through laughs and tears, Sunshine Coast hairdresser and counsellor Michaela Grace, 32, is finding her own answer to that question.
But to understand Michaela’s strength, you have to go back to the beginning of her story.
Long before the devastating diagnosis that changed everything, there was a little girl who was determined to experience every moment life had to offer.
At sunrise, when most children were still tucked into bed, Michaela was already awake and ready to take on the day.
She would drag her grandparents outside, eager to fill every moment with dancing, swimming, gymnastics, singing, running or a trip to the beach.
“I love experiencing life, so I was always just trying something new,” she tells My Weekly Preview.
“My grandparents were like my best friends and they mostly raised me.”
That love of adventure stayed with her. She has lived on two islands during her life and developed a deep love of the beach, something she still holds close today.
From a young age, Michaela knew exactly what she wanted to do.
She wanted to become a hairdresser.
“When I was a kid, I would cut my doll’s hair. I had a baby brother, so I would cut his hair and then I’d be in trouble,” she says. “I think I was about eight years old when I told my grandma I was going to be a hairdresser.
“She always did her hair and makeup. So, I would beg her to take me to the salon with her.”
When she was 14, Michaela began a school-based apprenticeship.
“I dismissed myself from school without asking my grandparents,” she says. “I came home and I was like, ‘Guess what? I got a job today’.
“They were furious because they paid school fees and everything.
“Then they understood, and they were like, ‘Sure, this is what you want?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I really want to do this.’
“I qualified when I was 18.”
She went on to build an extensive career in hairdressing, working in salons, managing teams and travelling internationally for competitions and education.
She also developed her own wedding hair and makeup business and explored the fitness world, including bodybuilding.
“I’ve done a bit of everything.”
But behind the creative work was another part of Michaela that would eventually become a career of its own.
“I think I’ve always loved helping people my whole life,” she says.
Last year, Michaela completed her Diploma of Counselling while working three jobs. In March, she started her own counselling practice.
“Honestly, it was such a beautiful feeling,” she says.
“It meant a lot.”
Her years behind the salon chair had already taught her the value of making people feel heard.
“It’s so funny now because when I tell people, ‘Oh yeah, I’m a hairdresser and a counsellor,’ they laugh. They think I’m making a joke,” she says.
Then, in a matter of weeks, the life Michaela had spent 32 years building changed in an instant.
A small lump on Michaela’s nose became the first sign of a rare and aggressive form of sinus cancer that would change the course of her life.
It’s called metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, an estimated 259 combined cases of sinus and nasal cavity cancers were diagnosed in Australia last year.
The news came as a shock, with Michaela collapsing in tears at Sunshine Coast University Hospital when doctors delivered the diagnosis.
“My friend had to pick me up off the floor,” she says.
“I just thought I had a broken nose, as that’s what the initial scans showed. It was peak wedding season, and I was super busy, so I continued working and everything.”
She underwent surgery and weeks of scans and biopsies before doctors discovered the cancer had spread to the front of her brain.
Michaela was told there were no surgical or radiation options available, leaving chemotherapy as her only chance to extend her life.
Her oncologist prepared her for the difficult reality of her diagnosis.
“Look, you’re not going to beat this,” she recalls hearing.
“If you don’t do the chemo, you have three to six weeks to live.
“If you do the chemo, you’ll have three to six months.”
The word chemotherapy carried a heavy meaning for Michaela, who, at 13 years of age, had watched her grandmother go through treatment and lose her battle.
“I have to be honest, I have my own trauma with chemo,” she says.
“I watched her go through chemo and all it did was make her sick.
“I always said I would never do it.”
Faced with a decision she never imagined making, Michaela looked beyond the medical facts and asked her doctor for a more personal perspective.
She asked what advice he would give if she was someone close to him.
“Yes queen, I’ll tell you to fight it,” Michaela recalls as his response.
“It was who I needed in that moment,” she says.
Before starting chemotherapy, Michaela asked for 48 hours to process the news, tell her grandparents, and prepare for the journey ahead.
“I said, ‘Let’s just start it on Monday.’ At least I have the weekend to get my clothes together, buy things for the hospital, see my friends and get my nails done,” she laughed.
After receiving the diagnosis, Michaela found a way to hold onto the humour and the close relationships that have always been so important to her.
“My aunty doesn’t like eating Guzman y Gomez (GYG), but I love it,” she says.
“So, after I was given my diagnosis, I said to her, ‘Now that I’m dying, I want you to eat GYG with me’. And I forced her to eat a burrito in the car with me. It was the funniest thing.”
In an unexpected twist, the counselling skills Michaela has recently developed have become a source of strength as she faces her own grief and uncertainty.
“I’ve been able to know how to navigate emotion and hold space for others, so thank God I am qualified in that,” she says.
But perhaps the biggest surprise has not been the diagnosis itself. It has been discovering just how deeply she has affected the people around her.
Since her diagnosis, strangers, former colleagues, apprentices and friends have reached out.
There have been flowers, gifts and meals. People she hadn’t spoken to for years have contacted her to tell her about the impact she had on their lives.
One former apprentice told her she now had her own business and still referenced Michaela every day in her meetings.
For someone who had simply been busy living her own life, the realisation was overwhelming.
“All these people told me I had inspired them and I was like, wow, I’m just out here living my life. I didn’t realise,” she says. “I didn’t know that I was loved like that.”
As the community rallied around Michaela, her friend Zoe Nation created a GoFundMe fundraiser that has raised more than $40,000 to help cover living and medical expenses, giving her more time to focus on creating memories with the people closest to her.
For Michaela, what she wants now is surprisingly simple.
“Honestly, just positivity and joy and the people I love the most,” she says.
She doesn’t speak about a long bucket list of extravagant plans.
Instead, she talks about the small things that have always made her happy.
“I love sunrises and I love the beach and I love coffee and I love movie nights with my friends,” she says.
“So, I just want to fill my days with all those wholesome things. I’ve been really trying to do more of those.”
For someone who built her career around hair and helping others feel confident, losing her own hair has been a significant part of her journey. But Michaela has embraced the change, sharing her positivity online as she enters her “wig era”.
For Michaela, the answer to what you would do if you were told you had weeks to live is not found in a grand plan, but in the simple moments that make life meaningful.
For now, there are sunrises to watch, beaches to visit, coffee to drink and movie nights to share.
Visit gofundme.com/f/help-Michaela-make-every-remaining-moment-count
