By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
ALBERT Bray was given just six weeks to live.
But almost five years and several bouts of chemo later, Bert is still fighting leukaemia.
It was in January 2011 when the doctor called Albert’s wife, Deb, at her Narre Warren home to tell her the news that changed the Brays’ world forever.
Her husband had been diagnosed with a rare cancer known as hairy-cell leukaemia, only contracted by men and which affects the blood and bone marrow.
Bert, now 52, had been out for morning tea with his two daughters, Stacie and Jessica, at the time the doctor called Deb at home.
“You could have heard a pin drop. The doctor rang me first and wanted to speak to Albert but he was out with the girls and wouldn’t be back for an hour or two,” she said.
“So the doctor told me first, and I was by myself for a couple of hours which was devastating.
“He told me Bert had six weeks to live if he didn’t start chemo immediately.”
Despite the toll the last few years have had on the Brays, Deb said her husband was a fighter.
“ … He’s not going to give up,” she said.
“He’s doing okay at the moment.”
Bert’s resilience is contagious and has caught on with his family. So much so that Deb is holding a special garage sale fund-raiser early next year to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation.
The gigantic garage sale will include a sausage sizzle, a raffle and tin donations.
The Brays are also passionate supporters of the World’s Greatest Shave and make an effort to get involved with the initiative every year.
“We want to make a difference together for the Leukaemia Foundation,” Deb said.
The gigantic garage sale will be held on 20 February in Narre Warren, and to donate contact Deb on 0423 761 162.
For more information on the Leukaemia Foundation, visit www.leukaemia.org.au.
