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
