Canberra mother Sarah McGoram OAM will be climbing Australia’s highest peak this weekend, in the Rare Cancer Australia (RCA) Kosi Challenge, to raise awareness for people living with rare and less common cancers, of which she is one.
She’ll be taking on the 21km climb with her husband Tom by her side, along with 700 others from Thredbo Village to the mountains peak and back, all in the name of rare, with a collective goal of raising $750,000 for the vital support services and crisis funding RCA provides its patients and their families.
At just 18, Sarah was diagnosed with Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumours (GIST) and has lived with the rare cancer for her entire adult life. It wasn’t until 20 years after her diagnosis that she met another person who truly understood her situation and could offer real support and hope, that person was RCA Co-Founder Kate Vines.
Lost
‘When I was diagnosed there were no support groups, I couldn’t find any information about my disease, I didn’t know anyone else with my disease or have any prospect of support. I was 18 years old and completely lost,’ Sarah recalls.
‘I remember one day, I finally called the RCA support line in a state of panic, and it was Kate who answered. Kate listened to all my questions, helped me understand why I was falling through the cracks in the system, and facing extraordinary treatment expenses, she assured me that I was not alone, and she was there the help.
‘My conversation with her in that one phone call was the first time since I was diagnosed that I had felt someone else understood what I was going through and was a turning point for me as a person living with a rare cancer.
‘Ten years on, I am still being supported by the amazing navigators at RCA, and I am so excited to be feeling well enough to be able to give back and show my support for this wonderful organisation by taking on the Kosi Challenge.
‘What I love about this event is that it brings together a community of people who otherwise feel quite isolated in their cancer experience,’ she said.
‘To be able to hike up this mountain and raise a huge amount of money and awareness is so uplifting and it shows that there are people out there who care, and that change is possible.’
Not so rare cancers cost 16,000 lives each year
Each year, over 40,000 Australians are diagnosed with a rare and less common cancer, accounting for 1 in 4 cancer diagnoses. Alarmingly, these cancers are responsible for 1 in 3 cancer deaths, that’s more than 16,000 lives lost every year.
RCA CEO, Christine Cockburn, explained why those people diagnosed with a rare or less common type of cancer, face a battle not only for their lives but also against a deeply inequitable system.
‘While individually rare and less common cancer types are small in numbers when viewed together, they represent a large number of people and a significant public health challenge,’ Ms Cockburn explains.
‘Our rare community faces a deeply unequal system. Access to specialised expertise and essential treatment is limited and often comes with a heavy price – one that many families simply can’t afford.
‘This “cancer lottery” isn’t just unfair, it’s devastating, and needs to change.
‘That’s why RCA exists and why we’re all lacing up the hiking boots to climb Mount Kosi this weekend. Together we can help change the story for rare,’ she said.
Radiation therapy
Following her climb on Saturday, Sarah will be travelling up to Sydney to have supplementary radiation therapy as a part of the ongoing management of her cancer, so it’s straight on from conquering one challenge to facing another, but this weekend she won’t let it dampen her spirits or determination.
‘My story is just one of many. I know many patients who are not well enough to walk up Mount Kosi right now, so I’m doing this for them. Individually we are rare, but collectively there are a lot of us. I’d encourage everyone to support Rare Cancers Australia, so they can continue to be a light for all patients in their darkest moments,’ she said.
