By Shelby Brooks
Friends and family of a Beaconsfield mum battling brain cancer have walked over 1500km in 24 hours to help raise funds for much-needed treatment.
Hundreds came out to support Sarah Kelly, her husband Steve and daughter Esther at Pakenham Lakeside over the weekend for ‘24 Hours for the Kelly Gang’.
The fundraiser centred around good friend and avid runner Michael Soutter as he attempted to walk for 24 hours – which he did!
“The weather was rough and Michael had just come off the flu and then Covid-19, but he managed to keep moving the entire 24 hours,” Steve said.
“With help from some dedicated support crew, he ran 85 laps of his own (127.5km) and the collective laps of everyone running and walking throughout the 24 hours was 1001 (just over 1500km).”
Sarah, who is a passionate runner, was blindsided by the diagnosis last year but has found incredible support from family and friends, particularly from the running community.
Pakenham Road Runners founder Michael Soutter, who has run for many years with Sarah, wanted to do something to help the Kelly family.
“Sarah is such a giving and thoughtful person. We thought there was no better way to show her love and support than getting people out and pushing themselves,” Michael said.
At the opening of the event on Saturday, Sarah explained what an inspiration Michael was to her.
“Michael is insane enough to put his hand up to run for 24 hours. We are so incredibly grateful for you Michael – you’re a pillar of inspiration,” she said.
“I think there’s a lot of parallels between what I’m going through to what you’ll face in the next 24 hours.
“The hard yards, the times you have to draw on inner strength and the community. Let’s continue to inspire each other because you’re an inspiration to me.”
Sarah also thanked her family for their support during the journey so far.
“Steve is my rock and my pillar of strength and has been so amazing for our family going through such a tough time. Esther is a joy for us and shining light in what is a really difficult time,” Sarah said.
“Unfortunately, there is no cure so we’re just trying everything we possibly can to fight this. Fundraising is very important and we’re very grateful for that but I’m also incredibly humbled and honoured to the community around us. I love community and relationships and you all mean so much to me, even people I don’t know who are here.
“I’m going to keep fighting. Thank you for supporting me through this.”
The Kelly family intends to use the money raised towards getting Sarah into a functional medicine intensive course in Byron Bay that acts as complementary health care alongside her chemotherapy regime.
“We had an amazing turn out on both days for the event; hundreds of people were there to support Sarah and the goals and aims of the event were well and truly met,” Steve said.
“Fundraising money is still trickling in from the silent auction but we can already see we’re going to meet our goal and Sarah will definitely be able to go to the treatment clinic.
“The plan is to get Sarah through the next few rounds of chemotherapy and then go to the clinic in November in between the second last and last chemo round, after which, we’ll begin the treatment and lifestyle plan that the treatment clinic will send us away with.”
Steve said the support the family received from the community was overwhelming.
“The community and support goals were always of equal importance and I could see the amazing impact the huge amounts of love had on Sarah,” Steve said.
“I haven’t seen her that energetic, full of life and glowing since this all began. She was absolutely buzzing.
“We are so blown away and humbled by people’s generosity – from the people who know us well to those we’ve never met and everyone in between! It was the most amazing event and we’re incredibly grateful for every bit of support.”
