Shelli shares expertise to kit sufferers out to cope with cancer

Shelli Whitehurst knows the things cancer sufferers need to endure the horrors of chemotherapy — and one of them is Fruit Tingles.

After Shelli Whitehurst was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in May 2014 she has committed her life to helping the worlds 14-million-plus cancer sufferers. Developed Kit for Cancer, a luxurious care package filled with practical items for people undergoing chemotherapy. Picture: Tony Gough

SHELLI Whitehurst knows the things cancer sufferers need to endure the horrors of chemotherapy — and one of them is Fruit Tingles.

The fizzy lollies “take away the metallic gross taste” the treatment leaves in your mouth, the 40-year-old breast cancer patient says.

Headphones also help a patient “zone out” in the chemo chair, Keep Cups are ideal for visits to the hospital coffee shop, and aloe vera gel can offer sweet relief from the burn of radiation therapy.

She may be an expert now, but Ms Whitehurst didn’t know any of this when she was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 bilateral breast cancer in May last year and told she had between a year and five years to live.

During that scary time, she discovered you need lots of stuff when you’re undergoing treatment, and there was no “one-stop cancer shop” to get it from.

So the young entrepreneur created “Kit for Cancer”.

As she battled through exhausting treatments and bouts of extreme pain and discomfort, Ms Whitehurst and her business partners negotiated supply deals for products with companies including Chemist Warehouse and Keep Cup to fill the kits.

About 200 kits have been sold across the globe via an online store since December, and the company has just received an order for 3000.

The care packages cost $150 — 30 per cent of which goes to cancer charity Tour de Cure — but contain 20 products that would retail for more than $300.

Ms Whitehurst said the kits were both practical and luxurious. The feedback from customers had been heartwarming, the advertising agency chief executive said.

“When you get a message from a customer saying, ‘I have chemo tomorrow and I can’t wait to take in my Keep Cup’, it’s amazing,” she said.

Next on the agenda are kits for children with cancer and deals with big corporations to hopefully spread the product further.

Ms Whitehurst has become a voice for young adults with cancer, starting a blog and speaking publicly about what it’s like to live with the “ugly disease”.

Her efforts to help other cancer sufferers while fighting her own battle have seen her nominated for the Courage Medal in the Pride of Australia awards.

And she has come to terms with the fact she’s dying.

“Before I was diagnosed, I had a fast-paced full-on life. But my life is happy now — the little things mean a lot to me.”

kitforcancer.com