i[2]y Australia Is Kiwi-tastic!
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
In the throes of chemotherapy, two women who had never met were both thinking the same thing: “I’m too young for this.”
That thought led single mother Shari Falls, 33, of Canberra, and Newcastle university student Louise Mackay, 21, to meet online and form Australia’s only cancer support group for young adults.
Doctors estimated they had three months to live.
“I wanted to go on living rather than planning my funeral. I wrote a list of things to do before I died, and up high on that list was starting a support group to beat this stupid cancer,” Ms Falls said.
In her long fight against cancer, Ms Falls endured 11 years of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Despite being diagnosed infertile, she fell pregnant twice and had two more daughters.
“Back then I was ill-informed and felt like cancer was something old people got, not me, I couldn’t possibly have it. I was 23 and ready to party,” Ms Falls said.
Ms Mackay was 18 when she was told she had leukaemia: “All my friends were out partying and I was stuck worrying if I was going to wake up the next day.”
Ms Falls and Ms Mackay are nominated together in the Pride of Australia Medal for their courage.
I’m Too Young For This, also known as i(2)y, is the first survivor-led advocacy, support and research group for young adults. It began in February with seven members and now has more than 400.
“People need to understand the difference between the needs of a child, a young person and an older person with cancer,” Ms Mackay said.
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