Meet Josh

19-year-old Josh Griffiths knows more than most what it means to go the distance for cancer treatment.

Josh was living in Adelaide, enjoying the first few months of his new career in the Army when he discovered a lump in his neck. After a PET scan, he received the news that no one deserves to hear.  

"I had expected the worst, but when they told me it was cancer, I just felt angry,” Josh recalls. "I had gone through a full year of Army training, just to get cancer."

Josh had synovial sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer. As the specialist sarcoma treatment centre for New South Wales, Chris O'Brien Lifehouse was recommended to Josh as the best place for treatment. His parents Ian and Lisa helped Josh pack up his belongings into the back of his car, and together they made the 16-hour drive back to Sydney.

"Much of the trip we were without mobile coverage or WiFi, so we could process what we'd just learnt,” says Ian, Josh's dad.

"Despite the circumstances, it was a special time. We reforged an even stronger closeness of father, mother and child cementing a camaraderie where we agreed that we 'had this', that we would 'beat this'."

Unfortunately, the long trips didn't end there. The Griffiths family live in Gosford, so his mum and dad were grateful to stay at our YouCan centre while Josh received treatment. Being so close together was an immense comfort to the whole family.

"As a close-knit family, this meant the world to us," recalls Ian. "The support services at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse removed an element of the stress and uncertainty we were feeling. Knowing we had the refuge of the YouCan centre meant we didn't need to think about finding accommodation and parking, not to mention traveling upwards of 3 hours each day. It was one less obstacle to navigate."

"Support services helped make this time a little easier, by alleviating some of the worry and apprehension we were experiencing."

Receiving cancer treatment far from home is tough. Long trips to the city, the expense of accommodation and being separated from home and family can make the challenges of treatment so much harder. At Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, the generosity of our donors helps provide a range of holistic support services that help ease the burden of distance for regional patients, so they can access world-class, comprehensive cancer care.

Meet Harry

At 21, Harry's life was full of promise and potential. But a series of seizures changed everything. Here, Harry speaks to Callum McPherson, host of the Young Blood - Young Men's Mental Health podcast, about his brain cancer diagnosis and how he is making the most of every day.

Meet Kim

Earlier this year, Kim Sherwin had a run-in with cancer. "I was one of the lucky ones who had the surgery at lightning speed after something was found at my regular screening," Kim says. "I had the badness successfully removed from my breast, then zapped the heck out of my boob with five weeks of radiotherapy." The impact of Kim's journey has been quite profound on her. "I'm incredibly grateful for the amazing care and support I've received from the remarkable team at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse," she says. "I wanted to give back."

Kim lives close to the Camperdown centre, and each day of her five week radiotherapy treatment, she'd make the 5km round trip with her partner on foot. "Being able to walk there was important to both my mental and physical health, and something I was determined to do, come rain or shine," Kim says. "We'd often comment on how fortunate we were to be able to walk to my treatment at such an amazing facility. I'd overhear others at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse talk about coming across town on a couple of buses or even from regional areas. It's a tough enough journey, nevermind having to contend with a daily commute, reliant on public transport and staying in a hotel, away from home and family."

Kim has pushed herself to Go The Distance this year by cycling to different libraries far and wide across Sydney, so far raising an incredible amount of donations for her many rides. "Cancer isn't going to beat itself," Kim says. "Only we can help beat it, and support those going through what is a very unsettling time, in a high-quality care facility."

Kim has joined Go The Distance for a second year in 2023, and this year she is swimming the equivalent of a marathon! That's 42.125km, which is phenomenal. We can't wait to see Kim swim towards her goal, while helping patients with cancer and their families. 

Meet Tim

This is Tim and nothing will stop him from Going The Distance for his daughter Erin. On Day 1 of the challenge, Tim was locked out of his garage and couldn’t get to his bike due to a power outage. So, he crawled underneath the house, through cobwebs and dirt, and lifted himself up through the floorboards into the garage. Tim cycled 103km on Day 1.

“I thought about all of the setbacks that patients have and how they resolve to keep going, and I thought I can’t let a little power outage stop me,” he said.

His daughter Erin, 28, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She has since had surgery and will start Chemotherapy this month. Both dad and daughter are on their own journey this August but together the whole way! 

Meet Kai

Kai, from Bali, a long way away from home and Chris O'Brien Lifehouse. 

Kai was a fit young man, living abroad and at the peak of his career - throwing multi day music festivals for thousands of people. 

A few days before his 26th birthday, he went for a run and something didn’t feel right. A chest X-ray turned into a CT scan and a 15cm tumour was revealed in his chest. 

Year 1 was chemotherapy treatment for nonseminoma cancer (testicular). It was thought to be successful but a few months later his cancer returned and transformed into rhabdomyosarcoma. Year 2 was more chemotherapy and a surgery to remove the tumour in his chest. 

Kai has a parlayzed diaphragm and is still receiving maintenance chemotherapy but he pledges to Go The Distance because he believes “geography shouldn’t limit access to life-saving treatment”