Letters from Peter Mac patients to our generous supporters
01 February 2022
You are giving Britney a fearless future
The first time Britney heard the words ‘You have cancer’ she was just 16 years old.
Diagnosed with a rare bone cancer in her knee, Britney faced a devastating choice to treat it; undergo months of chemotherapy and have knee replacement surgery, or have her leg amputated. Instead of looking forward to Year 12, Britney was in a wheelchair recovering from the cancer that stripped her of all her energy and learning to walk again after opting for the knee surgery.
Unfortunately, after getting back to her normal life, Britney's cancer returned four years later. This time in her lung.
But thanks to past research achievements and breakthroughs, Britney has survived cancer twice and she remains hopeful for the future and the potential of cancer research to prevent cancer recurrence
“To Peter Mac supporters,
You are helping people to find purpose after cancer. You are helping people to heal. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I have seen the true kindness and selflessness of people, with your support for cancer research. And with that research making new breakthroughs all the time, I am living my life without fear of cancer.
Thank you.”
Britney has her entire future ahead of her and there are many things she wants to achieve. For now, she’s excited about continuing to pursue her passion in baking, and is looking forward to sharing that passion with other young people at Peter Mac who are going through the same experience as hers.
Your kind support gives Britney – and us all – hope that there will be more life-saving cures and treatments for all types of cancer.
You’re helping to keep Pierre’s dreams alive
Seven years ago, Pierre underwent surgery to remove his aggressive prostate cancer. This was followed by radiotherapy and hormone treatments. The treatments kept Pierre alive and for a few years he was cancer-free.
But just over a year ago, routine scans showed that he had developed a spot on his lung, and it was metastatic and had become resistant to treatment.
To give him more days with his loving family, Pierre is taking part in a cutting-edge clinical trial at Peter Mac, testing a new treatment for prostate cancer. Something he is deeply grateful for.
"I feel so lucky, and grateful to be alive.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and I was treated for it. I thought that was the end of my cancer journey.
Later, I learned it had spread, and that one day cancer would take my life. It meant that my dream of growing old with my wife, Jules, might not happen.
But I’m still here, thanks to research at Peter Mac, and thanks to you. I’ve gone through treatments to try and save my life and now I’m on a clinical trial for a drug that is keeping me alive and here with my darling Jules and our two beautiful children, Solveig and Tim.
So I want to say thank you. And please, keep supporting cancer research.
It's an ongoing process, and for the better of mankind in general. Thank you."
Pierre knows that his incurable prostate cancer will take his life one day and that his time with his family is limited.
But he finds hope in knowing that cancer research at Peter Mac could extend his life, giving him precious extra time with his beloved family, and that the research done today will go on to save even more lives in the future.
Meet fundraising legend Martin
In 2016, Martin's life was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive blood cancer.
“I remember sitting in the cancer ward having a really bad day and looking down to the crowd outside. I noticed a bunch of marathon runners and a light went off in my head. I said to myself ‘I’m going to beat this bloody cancer and one day run in a marathon myself.’"
Six years later, Martin is still with us thanks to cancer research. And, he has made his dream a reality by participating in the Melbourne Marathon as part of Team Peter Mac. He shares:
"To be able to finally carry all my problems and successes across the finish line with me was such a wonderful feeling. I had tears running down my cheeks as it was almost the biggest achievement in my life.
I have the most caring and wonderful partner in the world – Sonia – and I dedicated this whole run to her.
We managed to raise a lot of money for research at Peter Mac. I hope this can help in some way for other families.”
Thank you for supporting Martin’s dream and helping to make more life-saving cancer research happen. It's thanks to support like yours that Peter Mac can continue our vision of creating a world where no lives are lost to cancer.
