Cure for Life

Life can change profoundly in just one afternoon, or just one phone call, and sadly no amount of praying will turn the clock back. I know that now.

Four years ago my beloved husband Stan Zemanek was diagnosed with a brain tumour after an MRI scan we were told that he needed an operation….and this led us to one of Australia’s leading neurosurgeons, Dr. Charlie Teo.

Charlie operated on Stan 3 days after we saw him, we had to wait another 4 days before we received the news that it was malignant and it was a Grade 4 Glioma.

I soon found out that brain cancer is the deadliest of all cancers and that  three quarters of brain cancer patients don’t survive beyond 2 years. Stan survived 15 months.

Brain cancer is ranked number one when it comes to person-years-lost and not uncommonly affects people in the prime of their lives. It is now also the leading terminal disease in children.

At Stan’s first post-operative visit, his only question to Charlie was “now what can I do to help you?” In fact he was so supportive of Charlie’s Cure For Life Foundation that despite tumour recurrence and complications from his chemotherapy he attended one of the fundraising nights.

If Stan had lived he would have been knocking down doors for the Cure For Life Foundation, so I decided that I would become involved and give them any help I could.

I have a been a member of the Board now for the past three years and I can only say it has been one of my most rewarding experiences. I am passionate about finding a cure for brain cancer…… and because I have had personal experience I have also become a Brain Cancer Ambassador for Cure For Life. In this role I am able to speak to families and loved ones who are experiencing the same problems that I did.

The Cure For Life Foundation was established in 2003 by Dr. Charlie Teo, to help fund advancements in the treatment of brain cancer, hopefully one day leading to a cure. The more funds that are raised the more that the Cure For Life Foundation can do to help find a cure for this terrible condition.

The primary goals of the Foundation include:

• Raise public awareness of the incidence of brain tumours.
• To raise in excess of $2,000,000 each year to fund brain tumour research.
• To fund research to study the epidemiology of brain tumours to better understand why they occur.
• To raise funds through public and corporate donations to support the development of advanced surgical techniques, the purchasing of the latest equipment.

It is with this in mind, that 3 years ago the Board held the inaugural Walk4life in Centennial Park. This is a family event and you can walk, run or jog around a 2km course in the Park. How many laps is up to the participants.

A BBQ is held afterwards and 100% of funds raised on the day go to the Cure For Life Foundation for brain cancer research.

So why not join Dr. Charlie Teo and his family on Sunday November 13^th for a fun relaxed day in the beautiful Centennial Park and help us raise $200,000 for important brain cancer research.

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