HAVE you seen Mick Shaw riding his bike around Kilmore over the past few days?
The Kilmore man is taking part in Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation’s United to Fight Cancer fundraiser to raise much-needed funds to support cancer research.
Having started on Friday, Mr Shaw aimed to ride at least 150 kilometres by Sunday.
Mr Shaw wanted to fundraise for ‘Peter Mac’ after the support given by the foundation to his family after the recent death of his father, who battled cancer numerous times.
“I always wanted to help Peter Mac because of all the work they’ve done for my family. My dad passed on March 12 from cancer … he had different types of cancer across 14 years,” Mr Shaw said.
“He was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer 14 years ago and from there was in remission a year or two, then he had a different cancer in his adrenal glands and one of them removed.
“They then found large-cell lung cancer, which is slightly different to the small-cell cancer, underwent treatment and went into remission again. Then he ended up with prostate cancer and it went into his bones, which became terminal.
“Considering what he was diagnosed with, he battled it for a long time and was able to battle so much of it off until it eventually got him.”
While Mr Shaw has set a goal of 150 kilometres, he hoped to reach at least 200 kilometres despite being relatively new to bike riding.
“I’ve got four kids and a family of my own and it hadn’t had the time to [fundraise]. Now time’s passed and I wanted to do something to help,” he said.
“The ride came up and I said I’ll jump on that. It will be my first time bike riding. I’ve played footy for the last few years for Kilmore and I know I’m not the fittest block in the world but I’m going to tackle it.”
Mr Shaw thanked Kilmore Toyota, Kilmore Netball Football Club and Crowley Exacvation for sponsoring his ride.
To date, Unite to Fight Cancer has had more than 9000 fundraisers, raising almost $5 million to accelerate cancer research at Peter Mac.
While it is too late to participate in the bike ride this year, Unite to Fight Cancer will also have a 10-day walking challenge in October.
To find out more about Unite to Fight Cancer, visit unitetofightcancer.org.au.
