Half Ironman for Ovarian Cancer

Hi - I'm Julia and I'm doing a half Ironman for my amazing Mum who was taken from our family far too soon, earlier this year - after an incredibly inspiring 6-year battle. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer at the age of 53 in 2016 and courageously went through numerous chemotherapy treatments and medical trials. She provided the light and laughter in our family, even throughout her toughest times. She was the kindest and strongest person I will ever know. I'm doing this to make her proud and raise money for developing an early detection test for Ovarian Cancer.

 

A half ironman consists of a 1.9km swim, 90km cycle followed by a 21.1km run. I'll be taking part in the Western Sydney 70.3 Ironman on the 25th of September.

 

Ovarian cancer is currently the deadliest female cancer. This is partly due to the fact that there is no early detection test, meaning that 75% of cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage - Stages 3 and 4. Combined with the aggressive nature of ovarian cancer, the five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with late-stage is 25%. This is lower than the five-year survival rate for all cancers in 1975.

 

Due to a lack of awareness and underfunding for research, there is currently no way of detecting ovarian cancer in the early stages. If this was possible, the statistics would drastically shift. Women diagnosed with early-stage ovarian cancer have a five-year survival rate of 80-90%. With increased awareness and funding for research, this is a possibility.

 

Donations will be split between the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation and Ovarian Cancer Research - UNSW started by the company Camilla and Marc through their annual campaign - Ovaries. Talk About Them. The money will go towards research for developing an early detection test. This would save the lives of 8,000 Australian women over the next decade. Ovarian cancer awareness and funding need to change.

 

Thank you so much for your donation. If you want to follow my training progress and any updates - follow my Instagram @ juliahammans