Next month I will be riding 1,300km from Mildura to Melbourne (via a very indirect route through regional Vic) as part of the fifth Silver Lining Ride for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.*

As always, I am doing this in honour of my mum, Mands, who lost her fight with ovarian cancer almost five years ago. This year will be extra challenging, as I will be riding without my dear friend and riding buddy, Emma Cohen, who we lost to a rare gastrointestinal cancer in April. Her life was taken in three short weeks from her diagnosis. She was just 40 years old, an incredibly talented Nursing Unit Manager at the ONJ Cancer Centre and the most amazing friend a girl could have. Like ovarian cancer, GI cancers have absolutely horrific low survivability rates. So, I will also be riding for my girl, Em.

Cancer, regardless of its type, is horrible in every way. But with the benefit of research, many cancers today are not the death sentence they have been. Breast cancer survivability is above 90%, cervical cancer is on its way to being eradicated. Yet ovarian cancer still sees more than 80% of patients diagnosed in advanced stages and these women and girls face just a 29% chance of surviving beyond 5 years. That’s well less than half a chance of surviving. Grim.

I desperately want to change that statistic, but I need your help. At the OCRF we fund the most incredible world-leading ovarian cancer research. We have had, and we are on the brink of wonderful breakthroughs that are bringing us closer to early detection and improving treatments, but so much more needs to be done to stop this deadly cancer in its tracks.