Hi everyone!
Hope you are all having a great break. I have included Kirby's report from the Ballarat Relay For Life from last semester. Stay tuned for more posts soon!
Cheers, Maree and the team
BALLARAT RELAY FOR LIFE
As we should have guessed Ballarat put on a lovely day for us, rain, hail, wind and a below freezing temperature even though it was the 22nd/23rd of November (1 week from summer). The weather was so dismal that local radio was announcing that the annual Relay for Life was cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions. But alas, the event did continue and the 10 members of our relay team pressed on, albeit dressed in snow-suits.
Joel Chan was the first to take the teams’ stand-out baton, a right femur bone. Joel was a model of passion and enthusiasm, running his leg through what would be the worst weather conditions of the relay. He literally ran through a hail storm, not stopping for an umbrella or a towel! Joel’s inspiring effort put an end to complaints about the weather and we all took in turns carrying the baton around the tiny 250 metre oval track at Ballarat Uni (not at all monotonous). Thankfully for much of the 18 hours, the rain and hail held off, until poor Joel’s next leg the next morning.
The team took shifts throughout the night allowing people to head home out of the cold, but three members braved the elements and stayed out camping for the entire night, James Ross, Anea Ross and Felicity Creelman were more courageous than me!
Thankfully the team was able to huddle in a big 12 man tent that kept the elements at bay and enjoyed hot chips and chicken, hot drinks courtesy of James’ camping stove and Felicity’s yummy home-made minestrone soup which helped everyone keep warm.
Overall it was a fun and successful event with no-one suffering from hypothermia. Our team of 10; Rebecca Wright, Madeleine Strach, Sarah Smith, Felicity Creelman, Joel Chan, Anea Ross, James Ross, Nathan Anderson, Sarah Gray and Kirby Jefferies should all be congratulated on their enthusiasm and thanked for their participation and fundraising. We raised a total of $450 for the Cancer Council of Victoria, a good effort given the size of our team and the busy time of year. I would also like to thank all those who sponsored our team; your donations are very much appreciated. Hopefully next year a much bigger cohort of Ballarat Medical students can participate in the annual Ballarat Medical Relay for Life and support this very worthy cause. A cause that will have a profound impact on our professional careers in the future and perhaps sadly, our personal lives in years to come.
Kirby Jefferies
CHORAL SERVICE
SPEAKER:
An ecumenical service of praise, thanksgiving and fellowship for those working or volunteering in the fields of health, healing and caring for people in time of need.
h was one of 72 registered teams comprising of nearly1600 people—a national record for a premier RFL event!RFL is one of the world’s biggest fundraising events with last year's efforts raising nearly $14M. The proceeds go towards anti-cancer initiatives around the country. It also raises awareness for cancer and gives survivors and carers a collective banner to 'fight back' against what cancer has taken away.
Upon the cutting of the purple ribbon the survivors and carers completed the first lap, allowing an overhead picture showing a full ring of purple to be taken from an overhead plane. It was a poignant beginning and the warm sentiment was echoed at sundown by the hundreds of brown and white glowing paper bags, decorated in memory of special people touched by cancer—a truly special moment.
Moovin’ Health, sporting their newly fashioned banner, thanks to Cindy Fan, huffed and puffed their way through the sea of purple for the duration of the event. MH had 14 members registered and it was a real team effort to keep the cow (baton) on the moove.
Special mentions go to Jamie Mapleson for leading much of the running and walking till the wee hours, and to Louise Parry, who teamed up with Darren McCorry in a scrubs style, 'giant-doctor-lap'. Louise was carried around on Darren's shoulders whilst dressed in a long blue surgical gown and carrying a Glucose drip. From Darren's point of view there was never a longer lap. Luckily for Louise, he make it without incident and the physical drain on Darren was nothing that couldn't be fixed with some freshly baked mini-sausage rolls and a mug of hot coffee. Justin Potts deserves another mention for his super slinky kitchen skills, punching out some scones with cream a
nd jam, raspberry tarts, and of course the sausage rolls—all for the lap weary troops of Moovin' Health.
MH managed to raise $250 from a cake stall at the local marked and from direct donations, we are hoping for more as we circulate the stories of success. So if you want to contribute go to www.relayforlife.org.au for the details. The entire Wangaratta event raised around $116,000 with more to come!
MH Wangaratta are a committed group of medical students who are seeking to make more links with the community this year. We hope to build on the common experience of RFL by hosting first-aid services for the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Community Health Forums and Allied Health events during the rest of our time in Wang.
The team captain would like to thank all the Moovin’ Health RFL contributors for a great job, and we'd also like to congratulate the town of
Cheers!
Darren McCorry
Wangaratta MH Community Relations
