It was en route to Canberra that they stopped in Wodonga, on the New South Wales and Victoria, where they met a young lady who had experienced an extraordinary journey.
Nicole Shipard grew up in Albury, country New South Wales and lived on Rottnest Island in WA for four years, before relocating to Byron Bay in 1998. However her diagnosis of Acute Lymphatic Leukaemia in 2002 meant she would be forced to leave the beautiful sunshine of Byron Bay by air ambulance to Melbourne at low altitude, to ensure she would survive the trip.
At the time of Nicole’s diagnosis, Dr Annabel Tuckfield had recently returned to Royal Melbourne Hospital after completing her PHD. Dr Tuckfield was aware of tests being carried out in the USA that were not yet available in Australia and after discussion with Nicole’s family it was suggested these tests would largely increase Nicole’s chances of survival.
It was when Nicole was only part of the way through her treatment protocol that a life threatening episode occurred and meant her body would not tolerate any more chemotherapy.
“I remember driving home from Melbourne after reading an article in the paper about the new molecular testing service and thinking ‘what can I do’,” Nicole’s Aunty Louise said.
“I suggested to Nikki’s brothers that the family embark on a fundraising journey from Albury to Melbourne to try to raise funds to help establish the service in Australia but I am sure they thought I was joking.
“Anyway when Nicole was well enough we talked about the idea. Her eyes lit up and she said ‘let’s do it’! Nicole has been the inspiration behind the walk.
“We wanted not only to help Nicole in her remission, but to help others who were currently being treated for leukaemia and lymphoma, and the patients of the future.
“Nicole really wanted to help other people with leukaemia because she knew how horrendous the treatment and its complications were and understood the difference the molecular testing service would make to their lives. She has amazing determination.”
The arduous two week walk, named ‘Walking Tall’, saw a core team of eight people, including Louise and Nicole herself, walk more than 350 kilometres from Albury in NSW to Melbourne.
It was however, before she took off on her long walk, that Nicole met our Coaches at a Sportsman’s Night at the Wodonga Football Club where they were one of several guest speakers on the night. They donated $500 themselves to ‘Walking Tall’ and then rang Fremantle headquarters to have a Fremantle jumper delivered to Nicole midway through her trek.
A jumper was express posted to Victoria and so excited by her new prized possession; Nicole did the Club proud wearing the home guernsey on Day 9 of the walk between Euroa and Locksley. This was her way of declaring herself an avid Fremantle supporter forever and was more than happy to spread the passion through country Victoria.
Nicole’s determination and the support shown by her family and the community, led to $250,000 being raised, which will pay for molecular testing for 2000 patients in 2005.
“We have had so much support from so many different people it has been quite overwhelming at times,” Louise said.
“We had the full support of the Royal Melbourne Hospital behind us. We all worked together and the end result has been just fantastic.”
Nicole is continuing her university studies in Albury and she is hoping to return to Byron Bay for a holiday in the near future. Perhaps we could see her over in the West at a Fremantle game in 2005.
Donations to Walking Tall can still be made by calling
1800 625 650.
