Mystery Box Rally: Beating the odds in the outback

East Gippsland farmer and cancer patient Lisa Fleming recently showed off her grit by completing a ‘mystery’ rally through outback South Australia.

Lisa Fleming personifies country grit and determination.

Despite battling stage four brain cancer, the East Gippsland beef farmer recently took on the Mystery Box Rally in South Australia’s outback, racking up 6800km and camping in the back of a ute for the week-long trip, to help raise money and awareness of the insidious disease that is trying to cut her life short.

Wingan beef farmers Lisa Fleming and Matt Ross took on the Mystery Box Rally 2022 against incredible odds.

Teams entering the annual fundraiser had no idea where they were headed except on a unique adventure in the outback in a vehicle that had to be at least 25 years old.

Lisa and her partner Matt Ross had the added challenge of an arduous four-day trek just to get to the starting line at Port Lincoln, SA, from their farm at Wingan River, in East Gippsland. They experienced not only some of the hottest and driest parts of the country on their journey but the coldest as they made their way home via the Snowy Mountains.

Lisa, 37, was given five years to live almost six years ago when first diagnosed with breast cancer but has fought hard to defy the odds with her will to live inspiring all those around her including Matt and her two children Hayley, 11, and Barry, 9.

She travels to Melbourne every three weeks for cancer treatment at the Alfred Hospital. It involves either 7.5 hours’ drive in the car, nine hours by bus and train, or 1.5 hours by plane, when Angel Flight is available, to get there.

Mystery Box Rally 2022 in the SA outback.

“The logistics of getting treatment are a lot harder than for people who live closer to the city. It takes a lot of planning with what you need to do on the farm and whether you take your partner with you or not so often you end up going on your own,” Lisa said.

This year’s Mystery Box Rally raised $1.18 million for cancer research.

Lisa said her health made the rally tough at times but she loved the adventure, camaraderie and new friendships formed.

Her wish is that the funds raised will help others, especially kids, from enduring cancer as she has.

“I just hope it helps find a cure,” she said.