To Lorne with love

FRESH off building he and his late wife’s “dream house”, a Lorne local is now preparing to run more than 150km in her honour and raise more than $100,000 for cancer research.

Tomorrow, (November 22), Lorne resident Cameron Nugent will embark on a non-stop journey from the place he and his wife met at Pharan, Melbourne, to their dream house in Lorne.

During her breast cancer battle, Cameron’s wife Skye asked her husband to build them a dream house as a long-term passion project.

Mr Nugent was not a builder and had no experience in the field, however, was tasked with completing the project completely on his own.

The pair started the project together and completed the early planning stages, before Skye’s passing.

Facing his grief head on, Mr Nugent took on the project and committed himself completely to the process

This included sleeping in tents and in his car for two years, and taking up welding, sewing and bricklaying courses.

Eight years later, Mr Nugent has finished the project.

He said running the 150km journey would be the ultimate way to celebrate her life and legacy.

“It’s taken me eight years to get to this point, so I wanted to do something to commemorate this milestone.

“I’ve always liked running, so I thought I’d run from the gorgeous place we met to the newly built house.

“I always felt that people don’t understand how terrible the battle is with cancer, and Skye did it with such resilience.

“I can’t equate the battle to the battle my wife went through, and while 150km of running seems torturous, it won’t be.

“I’m not preparing one bit at all; I’m just running the 150km on the day.

“I’ll be in pain, it’ll hurt, but I’m just going to do it.”

Mr Nugent said the campaign had already attracted more than $50,000 in donations.

“We thought we better shoot for the stars and try to get to $100,000.

“We’ve been absolutely buoyed by the generosity so far. It’s been absolutely glorious.

“I’m so stoked Sam (Jonhson) from Love Your Sister convinced me to raise money as part of it all.

“It’s a wonderful cause and Love Your Sister is such an amazing organisation.

“I get emotional, it’s a despicable disease, and we are on the path towards finding a cure, which makes me really proud.

“I continue to be humbled by the support and to have the opportunity to share this with the community.”

Mr Nugent said he hoped the house and his fundraising efforts would make Skye proud.

“She always told me to stop wallowing in the pity and to enjoy what we had.

“We’ve got this beautiful legacy house and I’ll be living in the memory of what we had together.

“I’m so proud, and I hope she will be too.”

To donate to the “To Lorne with Love” campaign, head to mycause.com.au/events/tolornewithlove