FOR the past five years, Kylie Munro has been a regular contributor to the Cancer Council fundraising event Ballarat Relay for Life.<\/p>\n
Her efforts have been a family tradition after she lost her grandmother Noela in late 2017 and husband Nigel to the disease in 2018.<\/p>\n
She said since then, Relay for Life has given her an empowering and rewarding opportunity to honour their legacies.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigel 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe passed first in October and she was my best friend. That\u2019s when I thought something needed to happen. I don\u2019t want any other families to go through what we\u2019ve been through.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
When not walking in the relay, which recently took place on Saturday at Federation University\u2019s Mount Helen campus, Ms Munro is part of a 17-person team selling boiled lollies, toffee apples and coloured windmills.<\/p>\n
Under the banner of Definition of Pure Love, the team\u2019s rainbow motif is meant to represent all forms of cancer.<\/p>\n
Ms Munro\u2019s children Tia and Sienna have joined their mum in Relay for Life since she started.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Nigel was in palliative care, Tia was only 17 months old and Sienna was five,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve gone every year since. To them it\u2019s about honouring dad\u2019s legacy, being able to share stories. People adore them on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Munro estimates her team has raised about $7000 for Cancer Council through their Relay for Life contributions.<\/p>\n
Now serving on the committee for the Ballarat walk, Ms Munro said caring for people with cancer has opened her up to other endeavours.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to go to nan\u2019s and do care, housework, anything she needed, and then obviously the same with Nigel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got enjoyment out of that because it felt like I was benefiting them, and if I can do that for them there\u2019s potential to do it for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n