Mum’s big steps for lost loved ones

FOR the past five years, Kylie Munro has been a regular contributor to the Cancer Council fundraising event Ballarat Relay for Life.

Her efforts have been a family tradition after she lost her grandmother Noela in late 2017 and husband Nigel to the disease in 2018.

She said since then, Relay for Life has given her an empowering and rewarding opportunity to honour their legacies.

“Nigel was in palliative care at Gandarra for brain cancer. Nan had stage four bowel cancer. They died five months apart from each other and it definitely spurned me on,” she said.

“She passed first in October and she was my best friend. That’s when I thought something needed to happen. I don’t want any other families to go through what we’ve been through.

“When I was doing a lap around the track at 3am for my first relay, Nigel actually called to thank me for doing it. Every year when I do this, I always think about it.”

When not walking in the relay, which recently took place on Saturday at Federation University’s Mount Helen campus, Ms Munro is part of a 17-person team selling boiled lollies, toffee apples and coloured windmills.

Under the banner of Definition of Pure Love, the team’s rainbow motif is meant to represent all forms of cancer.

Ms Munro’s children Tia and Sienna have joined their mum in Relay for Life since she started.

“When Nigel was in palliative care, Tia was only 17 months old and Sienna was five,” she said.

“They’ve gone every year since. To them it’s about honouring dad’s legacy, being able to share stories. People adore them on the day.”

Ms Munro estimates her team has raised about $7000 for Cancer Council through their Relay for Life contributions.

Now serving on the committee for the Ballarat walk, Ms Munro said caring for people with cancer has opened her up to other endeavours.

This year she started studying at Federation University to become an aged care worker which she said is a continuation of her giving back for her family.

“I used to go to nan’s and do care, housework, anything she needed, and then obviously the same with Nigel,” she said.

“I got enjoyment out of that because it felt like I was benefiting them, and if I can do that for them there’s potential to do it for anyone.”