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Ashleigh’s Story

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My name is Ashleigh. I support the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and I am committed to doing what I can to end cancer.

In June 2015, I was 25 years old. I had just graduated from university and started my first full-time role as a lawyer. Everything seemed to be going according to plan…

Then one night, on a weekend away with my girlfriends, I felt a strange sensation in my throat and said so out loud. It was at that point one of my friends noticed that there was a visible lump on the side of my neck. I had no idea where it came from, or what it was, but I was pretty quick to assure her that it was nothing. Thankfully, she didn’t back down and made sure I went to the medical centre the next day.

One week later, the biopsy results arrived. The lump was cancerous and I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

For someone who had always planned their day down to the nth degree, my diagnosis came as a stark reminder that no one can ever really know what is around the corner for them. My diagnosis came at a time where everything in my life seemed to have finally clicked into the place that I had meticulously carved out. But, what I hadn’t planned for was processing a cancer diagnosis at 25.

I very quickly realised that cancer isn’t one of those things that you can predict and it isn’t something that you can immediately control. It doesn’t follow a script and it certainly doesn’t come with a manual. But what you can control, is the way you respond to it.

I also realised that many thousands of other Australian women face this life-altering reality every year and I was determined to change this

Thanks to the support of people like you and I, the survival rates for many types of cancer, including thyroid cancer, has increased by more than 20% over the past 30 years. That’s an incredible statistic – but it is also a fact. Cancer research breakthroughs are now happening at a faster rate than ever before because of our ongoing community support and advancements in scientific technology.

With this in mind, I wanted to do everything I could to help bring an end to all cancers. I approached the Australian Cancer Research Foundation with a small idea and it grew into something much, much bigger.

With their support and much planning, I hosted a charity black tie gala event called ‘Dinner for a Difference’ that raised over $26,000 for cancer research in June 2016.

By funding cancer research, we will get closer to a breakthrough that will change the way we think about cancer and the many lives that it continues to affect

When you donate to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation today, you give Australian cancer researchers access to the advanced technology they need to find better methods of prevention, detection and treatment for all the types of cancer that affect women.

None of us can know exactly what is around the next corner. But we can all take action today to help ready ourselves for whatever it is that we may find.

So, please join me in supporting the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, and a community that believes ending cancer is possible – because it absolutely is.

Please donate by 31 October to equip Australia’s best researchers with the tools they need to end all cancers that affect women.

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