Gold Coast world Ironman champion Jenny Alcorn fighting for life after horror diagnosis
Gold Coaster Jenny Alcorn is a World Kona Ironman champion, triathlete and coach. Now the sporting legend has opened up about a horror diagnosis. Read her story
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Jenny Alcorn is as tough as they come.
But the former World Kona Ironman champion, triathlete and coach will now face a battle for her life after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
Speaking to The Bulletin, the 64-year-old Gold Coast sporting legend says she’s determined to beat the odds.
“I’m in the fight for my life. I want to win and I will win,” she said. “Extreme circumstances do not bother me at all. I’ve had to work very hard for the things that I want to achieve.
“That’s just the way I am.”
Ms Alcorn said her symptoms started out deceptively normal – dizziness when getting up in the morning and then a numbness in her left leg while training.
“I chalked it up to a hamstring injury at first,” she said.
Then in June, Ms Alcorn had her first seizure and was rushed to Robina Hospital with her partner Margot Rupe.
“They found two tumours in her brain,” Ms Rupe said.
“But they still weren’t sure what it was exactly.”
Believing they were benign, Ms Alcorn underwent surgery to remove the tumours.
Months later, they returned and the former elite endurance athlete was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
Ms Rupe said of Ms Alcorn: “She’s the fittest person you could ever meet. So the last thing that was on our mind was cancer of any kind, let along an aggressive brain tumour.”
Ms Alcorn said the diagnosis came as “an absolute shock” because despite the threat of ill health, for a while she felt “absolutely fine”.
“Even after being diagnosed all throughout that first four and a half months I was still coaching, I was still riding a bike, I was still running,” she said.
“I felt good, except for the fact that I had a bit of dizziness.”
Glioblastomas are a fast-growing and aggressive cancer that “invades” brain tissue.
It is one of the most complex, deadly and treatment resistant cancers.
The average length of survival is six months, or less.
Since her diagnosis, athletes trained and mentored by Ms Alcorn over the past three decades have come together to establish a GoFundMe page.
But more than the financial support, Ms Alcorn said the amount of people who have reached out to her was “overwhelming”.
“It’s definitely given me joy to know there are so many people who care and are really making a point of catching up.”
“These people are my community.”
On November 28, Ms Alcorn will begin a six-week intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment plan.
Ms Rupe said her partner will tackle cancer the same way she tackles everything else.
“She’s going to tackle this like she tackles Ironman challenges,” Ms Rupe said.
“She’s going to be that one per cent who survive.”
Ms Alcorn said: “At this point so far I am absolutely positive that I am going to continue on doing what I do.”
Ms Alcorn has an incredible list of sporting accolades including winning the 2016 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii for the female 55 to 59 age division.
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Originally published as Gold Coast world Ironman champion Jenny Alcorn fighting for life after horror diagnosis
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