Never giving up for Fiona’s vision

GAIL Elsey lives her life with the attitude that if you have a dream, or if you really want something, then with the right support, you make it happen.

When Mrs Elsey and her husband Greg were raising their three children in Delacombe, then a new suburb with no facilities, with friends she formed the Delacombe Community Group.

They petitioned the government to establish a kindergarten for the growing area and raised funds by doorknocking and hosting coffee mornings.

“The kindergarten was built, and our daughter Fiona got to go to kinder,” she said.

A decade later, at just 13 years old, Fiona was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, and had cancer treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“We had to build strength to be able to cope with the fear of the unknown and to survive,” Mrs Elsey said.

“As Fiona’s treatment progressed we went to the laboratory and Fiona saw a Ewing’s sarcoma cell under a microscope.

“She knew she had received the benefits of research and wanted to do something to help others in the same position, so we came back to Ballarat and formed a group to fundraise to support that work.”

The Elseys began to raise funds in 1991, with an aim to bring a cancer research lab to Ballarat, and this movement grew.

“In 1991, Fiona passed away,” Mrs Elsey said. “She had said, ‘mum, you have to help [oncologist Professor George Kannourakis] because one day, he’s going to find a breakthrough.’

“I promised her, on her death bed, that I would never give up fighting for cancer research, and that the whole world, one day, would know that she wanted to see cancer research in her own town.

“We established a group in Ballarat, Cancer in Children and Adults Association, because George had moved here to start his practice, and we wanted to see Fiona’s vision become a reality.”

Through grassroots efforts, lots of presentations to groups, and a concert, about $100,000 was raised for a local laboratory, and by 1997, “it was happening.”

The Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute, led by Professor Kannourakis, had its first facility.

“The nuns at St John of God Hospital gave George a disused paint shed in the boiler house with a big crack across the concrete floor,” Mrs Elsey said.

“Everyone was horrified but I was over the moon because it was going to happen.

“Over the seven years we’d seen it almost come to a standstill, but every time that happened, I was more determined not to give up.

“I kept my word; I was Fiona’s voice. In the end, I knew it would help everybody.”

In February of 1998, the lab opened with one microscope, and 26 years later, the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute is a leading facility, based in Ballarat’s CBD.

It’s the only institute of its kind in regional Australia and employs 30 people.

“The heart of the institute is the people,” Mrs Elsey said. “The researchers are skilled, dedicated, passionate, they’re doing great research, and it’s helping so many people.

“I love them dearly and they work really hard. Patients are providing tissue, we have a tumour bank, and Fiona’s tissue is still stored there.

“I want to see people have quality of life, better treatments, and new less-invasive treatments.”

Thirty-three years after Fiona’s death, Mrs Elsey knows that with belief, faith, hope, and teamwork, “anything is possible.”

“Life is a gift, it’s precious, and we’re here to give and love. If we help one another, there’s always a good outcome,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do what I have without the support of my family: Greg, Mark and David.

“We’re also very fortunate in Ballarat to have a very giving community.”

Mrs Elsey was on the FECRI board from 2004 to 2011 and is a life governor of the organisation.

She was named Ballarat’s Citizen of the Year in 1998, and assisted with the launch of the St John of God Healthcare Foundation the same year.

“Everything I’ve done in my life has made me truly happy,” she said. “That’s from giving.”

For all this and more, Gail Elsey is being inducted into the Zonta Club of Ballarat’s Great Women Honour Roll.