West Australians give record amount to Australia’s biggest charity ride
A record $8,674,649 has been raised for WA cancer research by the nation’s biggest charity bike ride, the MACA Cancer 200 Ride for Research.
The money will go to Perth’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research to support the investigation into the hardest to treat cancers.
Nearly 2000 riders set off from Optus Stadium this morning on a 200km two-day ride to Mandurah and back over the weekend.
Director of the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Professor Peter Leedman AO said vital new cancer research is supported by the funds from the Ride.
“This will make a substantial difference to our cancer research at the Harry Perkins Institute. Our work is directed towards improving patient outcomes by expanding our knowledge of the ways cancers behave, and sadly too often return, and developing new drugs and treatments which are then put through rigorous testing and trials.
“It is made possible because West Australians want to make a difference for cancer patents.
“The fact that Australia’s biggest charity ride is in WA says a lot about the giving spirit we have here,” said Professor Peter Leedman AO, Director Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.
Cancer survivor Nicky Copper is one of 86 riders in this year’s event who have lived experience of cancer.
“I am riding because more than anything, I want to raise awareness of the importance of cancer research and cancer screening. My cancer allows me to have important conversations with friends, family and colleagues. And by joining the ride, it’s a way to give back to the research that I have so benefitted from,” she said.
Costs of putting on such a large two-day event are kept to a minimum by in-kind support from MACA, Mineral Resources, WesTrac and WA Limestone which provide equipment and logistics support to maximise the funds directed to cancer research.
Meet Rider and Cancer Survivor Nicky Copper
Team: Ride My Wheel – community group of 15 riders from Secret Harbour
“Cancer has given me so much courage.”
After years of my sister pestering me to get a pap smear (I hadn’t had one for years) I finally went in January 2019.
I then went on my planned five-week holiday to Europe. When I returned there was a letter waiting for me. It was a letter from the doctor saying they had found some abnormal results. A colposcopy was needed which indicated there was pre-cancerous tissue.
A biopsy was taken and with those results, my life abruptly changed. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
I was told I needed a radical hysterectomy. My partner and I asked my doctors if we could first try for a baby, but unfortunately, time was not on our side, and I had to undergo surgery straight away.
So, everything changed. It just turned everything upside down really. It just didn’t feel real.
Luckily the surgery showed that the cancer hadn’t spread but having a cancer diagnosis, it became time to think about what the future was going to look like.
I’ve never enjoyed change and always avoided it, but through this journey I’ve had so many changes going. I now see change as a positive, and I always jump at the chance to say yes, even if it’s out of my comfort zone, because literally what is the worst thing that can happen now? That already did!
I’d always wanted to return to university to study health science and now this was my chance. In 2020 I took a risk – I resigned from my hotel management career, enrolled for a Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Murdoch and it’s all worked out amazingly.
Thankfully in February, I received the all-clear, but the trauma remains. The surgery, four years of anxiety and the impact this disease had on my loved ones linger, but cancer has also given me courage. I have switched careers and I am even completing my first Ironman this year!
I am riding because more than anything, I want to raise awareness of the importance of cancer research and cancer screening. Having had cancer allows me to have important conversations with friends, family and colleagues. And by joining the ride, it’s a way to give back to the research that I have so benefitted from.
Media enquiries over the 2023 MACA Cancer200 Ride for Research weekend (14-15 October) should be directed to Miriam Borthwick on 0437 411 683.
