hello there! 😀 thanks for visiting! in march 2021 im once again taking part in the worlds greatest shave for the leukaemia foundation! im on an important mission to shave the world from blood cancer! please sponsor me to give families facing blood cancer the emotional and practical support they need. youll also fund vital research to help more people survive blood cancers, while improving their quality of life. did you know: every day another 47 australians are diagnosed with a blood cancer?😨 thats one aussie every 36 minutes! 😱 although research is improving survival, sadly one australian loses their life to blood cancer every two hours! 😢 so why is this such an important cause for me personally? lets just say my life has been punctuated with leukaemia in many ways: i have been involved with the leukaemia foundation in some way since 2002. whist i was not a part of the first worlds greatest shave event in 1998, as i was still in highschool at the time, my high school days would be scarred by the loss of my best friends older brother: a fiercely intelligent lad who loved star wars, soccer and exploring the outdoors, he had been healthy his whole life apart a heart condition which had previously never bothered him in any way. the condition he had is called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a fancy medical term that means the walls of the heart muscle are thicker than normal, making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood around the body. the condition as i said, had never been an issue in the past, and he took appropriate precautions to avoid the heart being over exerted, so he was a completely healthy and normal teenager. in 2002 that all changed. he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which is common in children and young people. his treatment unfortunately was required to involve medicines which can be toxic to cardiac muscle. this lead to a tragic catch 22 situation; if he didnt have treatment for his leukaemia, the cancer would kill him. on the flip side, the medicines used to treat the cancer could be too toxic for his already compromised heart. had his body not needed treatment for the leukaemia, his heart would still be beating, but sadly it gave out in may 2002. kjell johannesson was just 19 years old. 😢 kjell had dreamed of becoming an astronaut, perhaps through his love of star wars. his heart condition would have prevented him for ever entering space, so instead he had decided on a career in astrophysics. he was studying to be a rocket scientist. his younger sister grew up to become a doctor, and now looks after patients of her own. i chose to become a pharmacist, but still love star wars, and embrace the dark side of the force as a way of making my workmates laugh. perhaps his tragic premature death sparked in us both from an early age an interest in the medical field, with the desire to improve the health outcomes of patients. the 12th may 2021 will mark 19 years since he became one with the force. these last 19 years have gone past in a flash, like the millennium falcon travelling at light speed, which really hits home just how briefly his light shone on this world. every year since his death, i have undertaken fundraising in various forms, whether through the worlds greatest shave event, door knocks and even arranging a fundraiser at my university open day. but if you fast forward to 2018, i stepped it up a bit. quite literally! in april 2018 i joined the leukaemia foundation mt everest challenge fundraiser with a group of awesome people from all over australia, with the aim to help raise awareness and vital funds for leukaemia research by pushing ourselves to mt everest base camp. what an incredible experience it was for us all! reaching 5500m above sea level was a cracking achievement, and to do so whilst raising money for the foundation closest to my heart made the journey all the more special. but alas, there is a tragic post script to this story: my grandfather was a part of the commonwealth games queens baton relay a month before my departure for nepal and the himalayas. it seemed he was almost as excited about the trip as i was, and if i could have smuggled him into my luggage, i would have! unbelievably, he would be diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia within months of my return, and would ultimately lose his fight on august 10th of the same year. at 92, he was considered too old for any kind of treatment. now, some of you may think 92 is a good innings, but you didnt know my grandfather! my granddad wasnt like a regular grandfather. a talented artist, noted for his oil paintings of the australian bush outback, my pop was also a bit of a celebrity in the medical world! when he was in his 70s he became the oldest unrelated kidney donor in australia, donating a kidney to a family friend who was undergoing renal dialysis treatment. just google him (yes, my granddad is on google! search merv quigley if you dont believe me!) pop was a fit, healthy, active man, who could still chase after a cricket ball during family lunchtime cricket tournaments, lived independently and took no regular medication. he was not an old and frail 92 year old in a nursing home. he lived at home in the house he had shared with our wonderful nanna. he loved cooking, often having friends over for lunches and dinners where he did all the catering himself. he was still active enough to climb onto the roof of his house to clear his gutters, loved watching the footy and cricket, and had a mind with a sharp intellect and the most incredible stories of a life well lived. yet we were forced to watch him waste away in front of us as the disease consumed him from the inside out. it was truly unbearable to witness, and i hope in time a treatment can become available which is suitable for older patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, so their families dont have to watch their loved ones suffer as we did. virtually anyone who knows me knows how much my brother and i looked up to our pop, with my brother even following in his footsteps and joining the army. if i cant bring my grandfather back, i can at least keep his memory alive, and honor that memory by continuing to fundraise for the leukaemia foundation. so how can you help? heres a brief breakdown of how the donations get used: $20 will ensure our purpose built accommodation villages are fitted out with all the mecessary amenities to provide a comfortable, clean and safe home away from home for families $27 can provide a cancer information pack to help a family prepare for the challenges ahead $33 means experienced blood cancer support teams can make regular hospital visits to comfort families through the shock of a diagnosis and the anxiety of treatment $40 will provide emotional support for families facing blood cancer (especially those experiencing stress about the impact of covid19) $53 ensures that a blood cancer support coordinator is by the side of a newly diagnosed patient to help navigate those first scary moments $64 will ensure people with blood cancer recieve one on one emotional support, no matter where they live, to help them cope with their blood cancer journey, and achieve a better quality of life $80 covers one night of emergency patient accommodation for a family who must urgently relocate for treatment $120 can fund a scholarship to give support to a major blood cancer research project, for one day $145 can enable the work of a brilliant researcher for a day; getting us one day closer to the next great breakthrough! $150 means that the work of a phd scholarship recipient is supported for another day. this brilliant scientist could discover the next great breakthrough towards a cure thanks to you. $250 is enough to enable a family to attend a support program specific to their blood cancer $560 is enough to give a regional family a free place to stay close to treatment in the city for one week will you help by sponsoring me to help beat blood cancer? please click the button and sponsor me today! may the force be with you!