Because of pandemic restrictions, Matilda was unable to attend school and only one of her friends was able to come visit her at the hospital. Chemotherapy weakened her immune system, so any potential infection could have been dangerous.
Matilda's battle with cancer made this once-in-a-lifetime trip even more meaningful for the McMaster family.
"At the start of this year, I didn't know if we'd be making this trip ever," Scott said. "She was coming to the end of her treatment, and she was pretty down. She'd lost all her hair, she had really bad stretch marks through the steroids that they gave her, she was very sick... It was a case of, we have this big trip planned for her, you've got to push through, give her a bit of inspiration."
After two years, they're finally on that trip - and now it means so much more. The McMaster family checked off Disneyland, Six Flags, and Las Vegas before arriving in New York. Matilda, who was previously scared of rollercoasters, tackled the biggest thrill rides at Six Flags and loved them, and Scott said Disneyland was also one of her favorite parts of the trip. They also visited Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas.
Their last stop was New York and a New York Islanders game at UBS Arena was a can't miss event. That may seem strange given the McMaster family lives in Australia, where the only real connection with Long Island is both land masses being surrounded by water. Scott spent time in Ocean City, NJ in the late 90s, and between the three Metro Area teams and the Philadelphia Flyers, he was most drawn to the Islanders. Now he's passing down his fandom to his daughter. It's having an effect, as Matilda's started taking skating lessons since completing her treatments. Scott is originally from Scotland, and learned to skate at an early age, but it's much less popular in Australia where surfing and summer sports are king.
"About two weeks after her treatment finished, she had her first skating lesson," Scott said. "She goes once a week, and I've been getting her to watch the Islanders games with me on TV at home as well. For me, it's a bucket list item to come and see the Islanders. With Matilda getting into ice skating and starting to watch hockey with me, I think it'll be one of the highlights of the trip."
On Thursday, the McMaster family got to take in their first Islander hockey game at UBS Arena as the Isles took on the Arizona Coyotes. Matilda and her family were presented with a custom Islanders Hockey Fights Cancer jersey, and she came down to ice level to watch warmups on the glass.
Tweet from @NYIslanders: The McMaster family is at @UBSArena for the first time tonight all the way from Australia! 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/lZhBXWCvUl
Coming from Australia, Scott and Matilda were blown away by UBS Arena. Scott said that he'd "never seen anything like it," compared to ice arenas in Australia and in the UK. Matilda said she especially enjoyed the arena's many food options. The whole family thought the atmosphere inside the arena was incredible.
"It was so much better (than TV)," Scott said. "I don't know how many were at the game last night but it created a fantastic atmosphere, it's so loud in there. When you sit back and listen to the crowd, it's crazy noise from less than 20,000 people. We stayed until the very end, sat back and soaked it in."
The McMaster family was featured on the Islanders Twitter account at Thursday's game, highlighting their long journey from Oz, but with Hockey Fights Cancer night scheduled for Saturday, Scott said the family wants to share their story to provide inspiration for those who are still fighting.
"If we can give people hope and say, look, it may be six months, it may be a year, but all of a sudden you can make dreams come true and you can give them trips of a lifetime and memories in the future," Scott said. "A little bit of hope and a little bit of inspiration can go a long way under the circumstances."
