CANCER SURVIVOR Niamh Sullivan will join the Tweed Valley Relay For Life on March 11-12 to honour those she has met along her cancer journey and for those who can no longer relay themselves.
This year’s Relay For Life will take place at the Cudgen Leagues Club, Kingscliff from 3pm.
Niamh was diagnosed with Lymphoma at the age of 12 and shared her remarkable story of survival.
“As a cancer survivor I feel I have a renewed perspective on life, taking every day as it comes and valuing my health and loved ones,” she said.
Niamh’s cancer journey began on her last day of primary school after a tumour was found on her lungs.
“They had to bring in international doctors to try and fix the girl with no lungs after chest x-rays found a tumour the size of a grapefruit on my thymus,” Niamh said.
“I was experiencing shortness of breath and I kept passing out because it was crushing my windpipes. After this I went into a coma for 10 days and woke up on Christmas Day to my family, but I didn’t really know what was happening at the time.
“It was a slow process from then and it was very isolating, I even missed starting high school with my friends.”
While Niamh’s treatment is complete, she still travels to Sydney for regular check-ups with her specialists while some of the side effects remain.
“Because of what I have been through, I now experience short term memory loss, concentration issues, thyroid issues and endometriosis,” she said.
This hasn’t stopped Niamh from completing high school and going on to study media at university.
“I have decided to join Tweed Valley Relay For Life this year as I know the importance of Cancer Council NSW and the massive difference they can make to a cancer journey,” she said.
“During my time in hospital the CCNSW Hospital Volunteers supported my family, and gave them someone to talk to openly about what was going on.”
The Tweed Valley Relay For Life is a space for the community to unite in the fight against cancer.
The vital funds raised at the relay support local services such as the Cancer Council Information Service at The Tweed Hospital which provides nurses with the support to assist up to 200 patients from the Far North Coast.
Cancer Council NSW is 97 per cent community funded and relies on the support of the community to continue funding ground breaking research and provide community services to ensure no one needs to face cancer alone.
“It’s important to get involved in any way you can as it is such a prevalent cause, and you don’t know when it will happen to you, your family or friends,” Niamh said.
Join Niamh and make a difference to local people affected by cancer at this year’s Tweed Valley Relay for Life – visit: http://www.relayforlife.org.au/tweed – or for more information phone: 1300 65 65 85.
