Schoolgirl Eva Sallabanks lives in Springston, south of Christchurch, with her parents and little brother Will.
She turned five-years-old in July and in November, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then, she’s had three gruelling cycles of chemotherapy.
It hasn’t worked so a few weeks ago, mum Sharlene flew with Eva to Starship Hospital in Auckland so she could get a bone marrow transplant.
While all of this was going on, Sharlene found out about a German tourist who was stranded in Christchurch, waiting for a mercy flight home. Straight away, she offered him the family’s empty house.
When Jens, from the German town of Muenster, posted about Eva’s Givealittle page, "Eva slays the leukemia dragon", a newspaper in his hometown picked up the story.
Jens told The Project between 20 and 25 people from Germany had donated.
"It's great," he said. "I'm so proud of the people from Muenster."
While Jens waits for a flight home, he has a message for the family he's never met.
"Thank you so much for helping me out in a difficult situation for me. They closed all the camping spots so I don’t know where I am without your help.
"I have my fingers crossed all the time - the most important thing is that Eva is getting well as soon as possible."
Sharlene said their decision to help Jens was a "no-brainer".
"We've had so much love and support for our community that we thought it seemed like the right thing to do, to help someone out so he could be safe during the lockdown."
Sharlene told The Project Eva's Givealittle page had been going "crazy".
"It was really beautiful, what he said and how touched he'd been by our one small act of kindness," Sharlene said.
