When Jade Wendt learnt she had breast cancer, a nurse named Nancy phoned her almost immediately to offer support for what was going to be a long and arduous battle.
The pair got along instantly, and Nancy’s expertise proved invaluable once again when Jade’s husband, David, was diagnosed with renal cancer just a few months later – while Jade was midway through her own chemotherapy.
Jade Wendt was midway through chemotherapy for breast cancer when her husband, David, was diagnosed with renal cancer. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“Nancy was always there for a chat,” David said. “I didn’t overstep the mark and talk about my kidney too much, but she made me feel heard and supported. It’s just knowing you have people in your corner.”
David would not have had that support if his wife had not been receiving cancer treatment herself.
That changes from Wednesday, when anyone diagnosed with cancer in Australia will be able to receive the help of a support nurse in a major expansion of the breast cancer care model pioneered by the McGrath Foundation.
The federal government’s $166 million national cancer plan, unveiled in late 2023, includes funding the McGrath Foundation to recruit about 100 additional nurses and offer its services to every cancer patient.
Plenty of pink in the stands at the SCG in 2022 during the annual McGrath Foundation fundraiser. Credit: Getty
Chief executive Holly Masters said five nurses had been recruited and 50 would join by the middle of next year, adding to the 250 nurses sponsored by the charity.
“They [the government] have seen all the evidence of the impact that our nurses had – they make a huge difference on patients’ lives,” Masters said. “It’s the natural next step for us is to take this move and start taking our care to all.”
Jane McGrath and her Australian fast bowler husband, Glenn, set up the charity in 2005. Since her death in 2008, the annual SCG Pink Test and Jane McGrath Day, falling on day three, have raised more than $22 million for the foundation.
Tracy Bevan, who helped the McGraths set up the foundation, said her best friend Jane could “never have imagined” the charity expanding to the point at which it could help people with all types of cancer – not just breast cancer.
“What’s been achieved over the last 20 years has been incredible; now it’s really exciting to see where we go in the next decade or two,” Bevan said.
Chief nurse Kerry Patford said the charity would work with other cancer groups to ensure services did not overlap.
“It’s not about us providing care rather than someone else,” she said. “It’s doing it altogether and making sure that we are uniting to provide comprehensive cancer care with the resources that are out there.”
Health Minister Mark Butler said at last year’s Pink Test that investing taxpayer funds into the McGrath Foundation made sense because the services it provided would be “almost impossible” for anyone else to replicate.
The charity received more than $18 million in government grants in the last financial year, $12.6 million from donations, $10.3 million from fundraising and $4.2 million from corporate sponsors.
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