Celeb cousin Olivia Molly Rogers rallies star power in support behind Adelaide woman Francesca Klemich’s cancer battle
Ces Klemich was in Noosa with her family when she started to feel strange. The next thing she remembers is her life changing forever.
Cancer
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The last thing Francesca Klemich remembers before her life was turned upside down is telling her Mum she didn’t feel right.
It was late October last year and they were in Noosa for a family celebration that was months in the planning.
Seconds later, the 29-year-old collapsed.
“I was walking along Noosa Main Street and ran into my parents, my sister and her boyfriend,” Francesca says.
“I stopped to talk to them when I felt funny and told Mum.
“I don’t remember anything after that, but Mum says I started seizing shortly afterwards. I was unconscious for 10 minutes.”
Francesca, or ‘Ces, as she’s known to her family and friends, was rushed to hospital.
A CT scan, followed by an MRI, revealed a large brain tumour, a Grade 3 Astrocytoma, measuring 4 x 4.5 centimetres.
It was a devastating diagnosis.
Rewind the clock 6 months and Ces Klemich was a thriving almost 30-year-old, a dedicated social worker with South Australia’s Child Protection Department, and an in-demand marriage celebrant.
She’s adored by her partner Milly, parents Craig and Sally, sisters Isabela and Claudia, her nephews, Arthur, 3, and Percy, 7 months and a big circle of close friends.
A brain tumour was the last thing any of them expected.
“It actually makes me so sad now thinking about it,” Ces says.
“I was so positive, I didn’t think it was going to be cancer, I was so sure it wasn’t going to be cancer.
“I didn’t have any symptoms, I was just so happy, I’d just moved out with my partner, I’d recently started working full time at Child Protection and I was just loving my job.
“Everything was going so well, I can’t believe it.”
30 rounds of radiotherapy and 2 rounds of chemotherapy later, reality has set in.
Ces Klemich is fighting a giant battle.
She’s had to give up the work she loves, can no longer drive and has moved back home with her parents as she faces another 10 rounds of chemo.
In February, she made the decision to freeze her eggs.
“It was so emotional because I hadn’t even thought about that,” Ces says.
“It was actually the oncology department at Flinders that suggested it and I’m so grateful because really, I’d like to be a Mum one day.”
Ces admits facing her mortality has been terrifying.
“At the start when they told me it was cancer, I just thought, my God, am I going to die?” she says.
“It was so scary, I just cried going into surgery.
“And with my recent MRI I went into a crazy downward spiral because I suddenly thought, what if they tell my tumour has grown?”
But amid the fear, this brave and compassionate young woman, is finding the positives and inspiring everyone around her.
“I won’t get through this next year feeling sad so I’ve asked myself, ‘how can I still love my life even during the worst time of my life?” Ces says.
“I’ve always loved my life, my friends and my family.”
The Klemichs are a tight knit bunch. They’ve been brought together by adversity before when in 2009, Ces’s cousin Jack Klemich died from meningococcal disease. He was just 18.
“Honestly, I don’t think I could have got this far without my family,” Ces says.
“My 83-year-old grandma has called me every day.
“My parents are just beautiful, when I moved back home, I slept with Mum for the first 4 months in her room, we kicked Dad out.
“They’ve showered me with love, my sisters are beautiful, we’re very, very close, my aunties, my uncles, all my cousins.”
One of those cousins is former Miss Universe Australia, Olivia Molly Rogers. She was in Noosa when Ces collapsed, and the pair have spoken every day since.
“Ces couldn’t be a better person, I’m just in awe of her,” Olivia says.
“She’s so kind and generous, she’s just an angel and it’s bloody unfair.”
Next month, Olivia will run the Big Five Marathon in a South African game reserve, in honour of ‘Ces, aiming to raise $50,000 for brain cancer research.
She was invited to take part by radio host Carrie Bickmore, along with AFL star Trent Cotchin and wife Brooke, comedian Merrick Watts, radio host Tommy Little and former AFL player Scott Selwood. Bickmore’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Charity will fund the research with the money they raise.
“I swore I would never run another marathon but when Carrie called me, I thought, how can I possibly say no,” Olivia says.
“The fact that I have my beautiful cousin going through it now, it was a very easy yes.”
The Big Five is a race like no other, through the habitats of elephants, rhinos, buffalo, lions and leopards. There are no fences or barriers and Olivia knows conditions will be tough.
“It will literally be the hardest thing I’ve ever done but nothing in comparison to what Ces and others are facing right now with brain cancer,” she says.
“I think part of the reason I struggled so much when she was diagnosed was all of the waiting and unknowns and not knowing how to help.
“This has given me a way to channel my energy and worries.”
Brain Cancer Centre CEO Sam McGuane says the number 5 is significant.
“One Australian is diagnosed with brain cancer every 5 hours, about 5 a day or 3000 every year,” he says.
“And the sad reality is that brain cancer survival has not changed significantly in 30 years.”
Sam says funding research is the Brain Cancer Centre’s key focus.
“There’s an urgent need to develop therapeutic options, that provide long term quality of life for those patients diagnosed with this disease today while keeping our eyes on curity of options well into the future,” he says.
“We’ve got to act now, we need new drug options for tomorrow’s diagnoses.”
Brain cancer affects more people under 40 than most cancers and kills more children in Australia than any other disease.
“Particularly in forms of childhood brain cancer it remains one of the very few cancers from which at diagnosis, it is 100pc terminal, no therapeutic options, no surgery,” Sam says.
“A common memory from parents and family who have been in that situation, is that the doctor will say ‘you need to take your child home and make memories’.”
But there is hope and optimism among Australian researchers, some of the smartest minds in the country.
“Some positive progress has been made in the field of immunotherapies which we know from other cancers have been extremely effective at increasing survival rates while providing great quality of life,” Sam says.
“It’s not like this can’t be done, it’s not a road untravelled. We can get there. What we need is incredible people with research to take us to a place we never dreamt of, survival, quality of life and one day, a cure.”
Later this month, on May 22, Olivia will co-host the Grey Matter Soiree, a dinner at Adelaide Oval raising money for that critical research.
Ces will be the guest of honour. The response has been overwhelming with more than 200 tickets already sold.
“One of the best things about organising a charity event is seeing the incredible kindness and generosity from people,” Olivia says.
“The willingness of the Adelaide community to get involved and show their support has been really beautiful.
“Adelaide Oval has been so generous to us and so many people have donated raffle and auction prizes.
“It’s a time when you feel really grateful to be from a place like Adelaide.”
Ces too has been buoyed by the support.
“Everyone’s generosity and love and kindness through this has just really blown me away,” she says.
“I’ve got the best support team ever. I am so, so lucky.”
You can contribute to Olivia Molly Rogers’ fundraising efforts here.
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