Barker College teachers join fight against brain cancer with 250km ride
IT IS one of the deadliest diseases in Australia — and participants in the 250km Bike Ride For Brain Cancer fundraiser are determined to stop it in its tracks.
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IT IS one of the deadliest diseases in Australia — and participants in the 250km Bike Ride For Brain Cancer fundraiser are determined to stop it in its tracks.
Barker College teachers are joining forces with Brain Cancer Biobank Australia chief executive and Hornsby resident Robyn Leonard to raise $100,000 for research while celebrating the life of Mrs Leonard’s daughter, who died from cancer.
“My daughter Lucie died from brain cancer in 2012 and each year we do something in the Hornsby community to commemorate her birthday,” Mrs Leonard said. “Lucie went to school at Barker College and despite being 34 when she died, our family always held a close relationship with the school.
“To celebrate what would have been Lucie’s 40th birthday we will ride from Barker College to Calais Estate in the Hunter Valley with an aim to raise $100,000.”
Eighteen teachers will join the ride, swapping their lab coats or textbooks for helmets and Lycra for the cycle, which will start on March 9 and finish in the Hunter Valley on March 10.
Following her daughter’s diagnosis, Mrs Leonard became involved in national clinic trials as the consumer representative of the co-operative trials group for neuro-oncology (COGNO), inspiring her to establish the Brain Cancer Biobank Australia network.
“The bank is a virtual hub which was started in 2015,” Mrs Leonard said. “It moves leaps and bounds to support brain cancer research by connecting individual collections of tissue samples across the country to provide access for researchers.”
In 2015 there were 1391 brain cancer deaths in Australia.
Donate at bikerideforbraincancer.com.au