Bridgeen Doherty to speak at Teal Heels about her struggles with ovarian cancer, helping others

Bridgeen Doherty uses her ‘wacky sense of humour’ to personalise her cancer, which has helped her support others fighting the deadly disease. Here’s how you can help this Saturday.

In a constant battle with ovarian cancer, Bridgeen Doherty has developed an ability to find the brighter side of life.

It is her “wacky sense of humour” that named her beast ‘Octavia’, as the mother of seven learned to fight the disease and share her story with as many people as possible.

Now an ambassador for ovarian cancer and women’s health, Mrs Doherty has partnered with Brisbane Heat to share her story at the WBBL team’s fundraiser, Teal Heels, at Harrup Park on Saturday.

She said she wanted to use her story to inspire other Mackay women to get tested.

“A lot of patients go through a grieving process, but I decided I was going to look at the positives,” she said.

“Something positive has to come out of this, so before I left work at the Mackay Regional Council I made up posters with the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and stuck them on the bathroom walls.

“A lot of girls went off and got checked because of the posters, which I think was really positive.”

Mrs Doherty was diagnosed just days before Christmas in 2019, and has been on constant streams of chemotherapy since.

She said she regretted not being attentive towards symptoms she had at the time, because when Mrs Doherty was finally diagnosed she had stage four ovarian cancer.

“The symptoms were so mild I just put them to one side and didn’t get checked for quite a while,” she said.

“That’s what I tell everyone in my talks, women need to go off and get tested early.

“I know someone who listened to one of my talks, went off and got herself checked and found she had ovarian cancer.”

Mrs Doherty said the support she had received from family, friends and the wider Mackay community had helped her through the murky waters of a cancer diagnosis.

“I had a really aggressive cancer, the growth on my right ovary was eight centimetres in size when they found it, three weeks later it was 15 centimetres,” she said.

Bridgeen Doherty said the support she had received had helped her through murky waters. Picture: Matthew Forrest

“I’ve had fantastic support from my family, friends and colleagues, people have just come out of the woodwork.

“I’ve been really blessed with people that I wouldn’t expect to help, even people I don’t know that well, to come out and be really supportive.

THE DETAILS

What: Teal Heels is a Women’s Big Bash League team fundraiser for ovarian cancer.

Where: Hamilton Room, Harrup Park Country Club

When: Saturday November 20, 4.30pm

Tickets: $155

How to book: Buy tickets here