Bec’s Melanoma Battle

Hi, my name is Harold Frost and I am trying to raise funds to help my niece Rebecca Frost. Rebecca is in her early thirties and is battling with complications from stage 3 Melanoma.

Since her early teens Rebeca has always given to the community _ now she needs help from the community.

As a teenager she was active in both Naval cadets and as a volunteer junior firefighter with the Grovedale Brigade. Grovedale is a totally voluntary brigade which operates in a busy urban area in a southern suburb of Geelong, and is part of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority.

As a Naval Cadet she participated in community service whenever her group was asked to assist community organisations and as she progressed through the ranks she also became involved in training the younger cadets. Her ambition was to serve her country through the Navy and she was accepted into the Australian Defence Academy, however her first Melanoma diagnosis in 2013 crushed this plan.

With her service in the Country Fire Authority she has multiple qualifications, has received her 15 years service medal and won the Firefighter of the Year trophy for the Grovedale Brigade in 2013. She also won the Stewart Constable award for dedication and commitment in 2022. Despite her illness and the effects of her treatments she is still an active member of the brigade, and also the Junior Leader. in this role she is in charge of a group of 11 to 16 year olds, teaching them firefighting and teamwork skills and developing the confidence and leadership skills.

In her employment she is also serving the community, having worked her way through University working as a Personal Care Attendant in aged care since 2018. On top that when Covid came around she was on the frontline doing testing and immunising. All this while doing full time Uni as well.

In 2021 she graduated Uni with dual degrees in Nursing and Paramedics. Upon graduation she took up a Nursing position in the emergency department at Royal Melbourne Hospital.

She was first diagnosed with Melanoma in 2013 and had surgery to remove it as well as some having other spots removed. She had more spots removed in 2015 and in 2017 was diagnosed with a Stage 3 metastasised tumour, which was treated with 5 months of both radiation and chemotherapy. For part of this treatment she agreed to participate in a trial of an experimental treatment, something she hoped would benefit others in the long run.

Rebecca received more. bad news in May 2022 with a recurrence of the cancer that has now spread to her hip, kidneys and liver. Due her participation in the experimental treatment she is now unable to take conventional chemotherapy. Although her current treatments appear to be achieving positive results they are. not fully covered under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. This has led her to a debt in excess of $110,000 and this will continue to grow. Rebecca is an extremely proud young lady who has been trying too fund the treatment herself. However the treatments are now impacting on her ability to work full time and her bank will not lend her anymore money.

Rebecca is way to to proud to start this page herself so I am asking everyone to give any amount they can afford to this young person who has already given so much to the community.