Sunday Blake McAllister

Blog Post

I'm supporting cancer research and prevention with Can Too Foundation. 

My granddad, Gerry, was one of my favourite people. When I was a toddler he'd put me on his shoulders and instruct me to duck through doorways by exclaiming, "Bob Hawke!". He insisted elephants were "ephalumps", and would make me squeal with laughter singing "Pop Goes the Weasel". As I got older he guided me through childhood as he'd guided me through those doorways: with attentiveness and humour. 

But in the 1990s he was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer (non-metastatic). My grandma was distraught. My family wondered if we'd lose our gentle, loving man who was only in his 70s. 

Spoiler alert: thanks to innovations in cancer treatment we got him for two more decades! 

He was the 20th person in Australia to receive cutting edge surgery (pun-intended, Gerry would approve) for a 'neo-bladder'. His surgeons removed his cancerous bladder and fashioned a new one from bowel tissue! 

He died aged 92 and cancer-free. This means my youngest brother who was born in 2002 got him for 15 years and Gerry got to meet 5 of his great-grandchildren. My grandma, his 5 kids, 10 grandkids, and 5 great-grandchildren felt overwhelming gratitude to have had his wisdom and kindness supporting us for so long. 

Developments in cancer research and prevention mean a lot to me.

So, on February 9, I'm doing a 1 km ocean swim to raise funds for Can Too Foundation. They give us amazing training for the swim, and in return we raise funds for cancer research.

Since 2005, Can Too Foundation has trained over 22,000 participants and raised over $30,000,000 to invest in over 150 cancer research grants.

Please sponsor me! Any amount, no matter how small will contribute to ensuring people like Gerry live long, fulfilling lives.