A Simple Walk Into Mordor FundraisR
Donation protected
Cancer is the second-most common cause of death in Australia – more than 44,000 people died from cancer in 2013. Cancer accounted for about 3 in 10 deaths in Australia.
1 in 2 Australian men and 1 in 3 Australian women will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85. The chance of surviving at least 5 years (2007–11) is 67%. This may sound like reasonable odds, but when you are speaking about a person’s life it is gut-wrenching to hear that you have a 33% chance of not pulling through the next 5 years.
Cancer is a horrible debilitating collection of diseases that breaks down the body from the inside. Current ‘treatments’ are equally devastating on the body and we essentially end up with a 'fighting fire with fire' scenario in order to slightly extend a patient’s life. But what do these 'treatments' do to a patient’s quality of life? We end up with a situation where someone will seriously weigh up whether to undergo treatment and play the odds, or enjoy a reasonable quality of life with an almost certainty of the body hitting the cliff of resistance before spiralling down into a state of pure survival. At this point, the ends draws ever so near as the battle grows increasingly tiring.
Cancer has forced itself into my life and has affected many of my close family and friends. Last year my father passed away after valiantly putting up a strong fight. After visiting the doctor and specialist many times with stomach cramps and pains, his condition went untreated for months as his diagnosis went unsolved. After finally being diagnosed with a rare metastatic neuroendocrine tumour, he was put on a ‘less intrusive’ radioactive medicine injection ‘treatment’ cycle which lasted almost a year. As his condition deteriorated, he was finally referred to a hospital in Sydney. His spirits were raised and he was excited about the prospects of this trip as he thought he was only going for a 3 day analysis and to start a new treatment that could improve his condition leaving him in less pain. He never left. The doctor’s in Sydney could not believe he was not referred earlier. The cancer had spread throughout his body and was declared terminal. To live out your days in a cancer ward is one of the saddest ends to a life possible.
The fact is, this could well have been prevented (or at the least he could have lived some quality of life for many more years) had he known the early signs and symptoms and gone straight to a hospital with the right equipment and with specialist doctors that had the appropriate expertise. The referral should have happened earlier. He should have turned himself in earlier. And his close family and friends, including myself, should have taken him in. It didn’t happen. The rest is history. I would like to prevent this story from becoming a reality to others as I know he should be with us today.
Dad was the toughest person I knew who loved the great outdoors and gave so much more than he took. To watch the upheaval of his life and his spiral down as the unyielding grasp of death slowly got the better of him was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. The problem we face is that cancer does not stop knocking on the door and with the scary statistics presented to us, it is not a question of if, but a question of when will we have to go through this nightmare again.
My story is all too similar for many others in Australia and around the World. Cancer affects so many people that you cannot hide from its hovering grasp. All we can do is be as knowledgeable as we can in trying to prevent cancer and be aware of the early signs and symptoms. We can be loving and supportive to the loved ones who are diagnosed, and support research to hasten the road to discovering less intrusive treatments with the end goal of finding a cure.
The Cancer Council is Australia's peak national non-government cancer control organisation. As a Non-Profit Organisation it works to undertake and fund cancer research, to prevent and control cancer, and to provide information and support for people affected by cancer. The Cancer Council provided a lot of support and guidance during my dad's battle, and has no doubt helped hundreds of thousands of others going through similar ordeals.
To support this amazing charity and to give a little back, myself and two of my good friends (Lachlan and Josh) have decided to put our bodies to the test and attempt to show a fraction of the grit and determination the millions of men, women and children who are battling and have battled cancer have, by answering the call posed by Boromir: "One does not simply walk into Mordor".
About our mission:
- It took Frodo and Sam approximately 6 months to walk from Hobbiton to Mount Doom. We have 1 week.
- The “beeline” walking route is approximately a 200km journey. In the interests of restocking food/water and enjoying some scenery (similar to the detours Frodo and Sam faced) our journey will be approximately 250km. Thus we will need to average around 35-36km per day.
- We will be covering the distance equivalent of almost 6 marathons or 620 quarter miles or 2,400 american football fields in 7 days.
- We will be filming the journey and will release a remake of Peter Jackson’s award winning trilogy featuring only 3 of the original 9 in the fellowship of the ring: Aragorn (Lachlan), Legolas (myself) and Gimli (Josh).
- Yes, the ring will be cast into the fires of Mount Doom (if we don’t succumb to its evil as Isildur did).
This will be a strenuous journey as none of us are long distance cardio exercise champions. However, we will enjoy it as hiking and the outdoors are two of our passions. We hope this will raise awareness and funding for a very serious cause.
Please donate what you can, as every dollar goes a long way in helping support those affected by a horrible disease. All funds raised will be donated to the Cancer Council.
I will end on a slight rendition of Aragorn’s famous Battle speech at the Black Gate. This holds true to the fight many take to the battle against cancer and sheds light on the empowering strength the support from their loved ones gives.
“Hold your ground, hold your ground!
Sons of Earth, of Australia, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day!
An hour of disease and shattered dreams, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”
1 in 2 Australian men and 1 in 3 Australian women will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85. The chance of surviving at least 5 years (2007–11) is 67%. This may sound like reasonable odds, but when you are speaking about a person’s life it is gut-wrenching to hear that you have a 33% chance of not pulling through the next 5 years.
Cancer is a horrible debilitating collection of diseases that breaks down the body from the inside. Current ‘treatments’ are equally devastating on the body and we essentially end up with a 'fighting fire with fire' scenario in order to slightly extend a patient’s life. But what do these 'treatments' do to a patient’s quality of life? We end up with a situation where someone will seriously weigh up whether to undergo treatment and play the odds, or enjoy a reasonable quality of life with an almost certainty of the body hitting the cliff of resistance before spiralling down into a state of pure survival. At this point, the ends draws ever so near as the battle grows increasingly tiring.
Cancer has forced itself into my life and has affected many of my close family and friends. Last year my father passed away after valiantly putting up a strong fight. After visiting the doctor and specialist many times with stomach cramps and pains, his condition went untreated for months as his diagnosis went unsolved. After finally being diagnosed with a rare metastatic neuroendocrine tumour, he was put on a ‘less intrusive’ radioactive medicine injection ‘treatment’ cycle which lasted almost a year. As his condition deteriorated, he was finally referred to a hospital in Sydney. His spirits were raised and he was excited about the prospects of this trip as he thought he was only going for a 3 day analysis and to start a new treatment that could improve his condition leaving him in less pain. He never left. The doctor’s in Sydney could not believe he was not referred earlier. The cancer had spread throughout his body and was declared terminal. To live out your days in a cancer ward is one of the saddest ends to a life possible.
The fact is, this could well have been prevented (or at the least he could have lived some quality of life for many more years) had he known the early signs and symptoms and gone straight to a hospital with the right equipment and with specialist doctors that had the appropriate expertise. The referral should have happened earlier. He should have turned himself in earlier. And his close family and friends, including myself, should have taken him in. It didn’t happen. The rest is history. I would like to prevent this story from becoming a reality to others as I know he should be with us today.
Dad was the toughest person I knew who loved the great outdoors and gave so much more than he took. To watch the upheaval of his life and his spiral down as the unyielding grasp of death slowly got the better of him was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. The problem we face is that cancer does not stop knocking on the door and with the scary statistics presented to us, it is not a question of if, but a question of when will we have to go through this nightmare again.
My story is all too similar for many others in Australia and around the World. Cancer affects so many people that you cannot hide from its hovering grasp. All we can do is be as knowledgeable as we can in trying to prevent cancer and be aware of the early signs and symptoms. We can be loving and supportive to the loved ones who are diagnosed, and support research to hasten the road to discovering less intrusive treatments with the end goal of finding a cure.
The Cancer Council is Australia's peak national non-government cancer control organisation. As a Non-Profit Organisation it works to undertake and fund cancer research, to prevent and control cancer, and to provide information and support for people affected by cancer. The Cancer Council provided a lot of support and guidance during my dad's battle, and has no doubt helped hundreds of thousands of others going through similar ordeals.
To support this amazing charity and to give a little back, myself and two of my good friends (Lachlan and Josh) have decided to put our bodies to the test and attempt to show a fraction of the grit and determination the millions of men, women and children who are battling and have battled cancer have, by answering the call posed by Boromir: "One does not simply walk into Mordor".
About our mission:
- It took Frodo and Sam approximately 6 months to walk from Hobbiton to Mount Doom. We have 1 week.
- The “beeline” walking route is approximately a 200km journey. In the interests of restocking food/water and enjoying some scenery (similar to the detours Frodo and Sam faced) our journey will be approximately 250km. Thus we will need to average around 35-36km per day.
- We will be covering the distance equivalent of almost 6 marathons or 620 quarter miles or 2,400 american football fields in 7 days.
- We will be filming the journey and will release a remake of Peter Jackson’s award winning trilogy featuring only 3 of the original 9 in the fellowship of the ring: Aragorn (Lachlan), Legolas (myself) and Gimli (Josh).
- Yes, the ring will be cast into the fires of Mount Doom (if we don’t succumb to its evil as Isildur did).
This will be a strenuous journey as none of us are long distance cardio exercise champions. However, we will enjoy it as hiking and the outdoors are two of our passions. We hope this will raise awareness and funding for a very serious cause.
Please donate what you can, as every dollar goes a long way in helping support those affected by a horrible disease. All funds raised will be donated to the Cancer Council.
I will end on a slight rendition of Aragorn’s famous Battle speech at the Black Gate. This holds true to the fight many take to the battle against cancer and sheds light on the empowering strength the support from their loved ones gives.
“Hold your ground, hold your ground!
Sons of Earth, of Australia, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day!
An hour of disease and shattered dreams, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”
Organizer
Daniel May
Organizer
Mitchelton QLD
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