Light to fight cancer

By Kelly Yates
NARRE Warren’s Dean Lynch shone as one of the ambassadors at last week’s Light the Night event in Melbourne.
More than 3000 people gathered at the Alexandra Gardens for the balloon-raising ceremony, with gold, white and blue balloons filling the city to remember, celebrate and give hope to patients and families living with blood cancer.
Mr Lynch, who was the white balloon ambassador, told how he had survived leukaemia.
He was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 1995.
According to Mr Lynch, his leukaemia transformed into a more aggressive phase even after being treated with chemotherapy and other drugs for a number of years.
“My only option was to undergo a bone marrow transplant and I received bone marrow from an unrelated donor in Sydney in 1998,” he said.
Mr Lynch is now in remission and says he is making the most out of life.
Light the Night in Victoria raised more than $230,000, with the money set to be used to fund Leukaemia Foundation support services and cutting-edge research into the causes, treatments and cures for blood cancer. To support the Leukaemia Foundation call 1800 500 088 or visit the www.lightthenight.org.au website.