ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
It’s acts of kindness that drive humanity. Trafalgar’s Jodi Thoroughgood and Drouin’s Briony Schembri will run the Melbourne Marathon to raise awareness and funds for cancer. Jodi and Briony will run the marathon on October 15 to raise money for Jodi’s terminally ill sister-in-law, Rebecca Mather. Ms Mather was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year. Presenting to the hospital multiple times with many symptoms, Ms Mather was told by the doctors that the cancer had already taken over her liver, stomach and lung, and had regressed too far to be able to treat. “Bec (Ms Mather) is one of the kindest, most beautiful people I know,” Jodi said. The pair have been close friends ever since Ms Mather became smitten with Jodi’s brother Steve nearly 20 years ago. “Both our family and Bec’s are absolutely shattered by this heartbreaking news and want to do everything we can to help in their time of need. Bec is currently unable to work, and Steve is doing his best to be by her side and support her through her appointments with her care team,” Jodi said. Jodi explained that the cancer is untreatable, and the focus will be on “quality of life” for Bec. “She turned 38 last week, and she has to now face the fact that her life will be cut short. My brother is devastated and doesn’t know how he will cope without her – they’ve been together for 20 years and absolutely adore each other,” she said. “The last thing you expect is that something you care about so much knowing they’re not going to grow old. “I wanted to do something to help raise money for them so that financial stress wasn’t something they would have to worry about it.” Having raised $2840 already, the Blister Sisters aim to raise $20,000 for Ms Mather’s fight against cancer. “We’ve had lots of people donate, which has been amazing,” she said. “Rather than just saying to people ‘Hey can you donate to the gofundme’, I wanted to earn money,” she added. “I thought I’d do something challenging – I’ve never run a marathon before, so I thought ‘I’ll run a marathon’. “Then one of my best friends, Briony, decided she wanted to support me with that – together, we became the Blister Sisters.” The Blister Sisters have been documenting their journey through the ‘Blister Sisters – Blitzing it for Bec’ Facebook page. “It’s grown since (the start), and we’re just doing everything we can to raise money for Bec and my brother Steve because, at the moment, they’re trying to get by on one wage while they’re not sure how much longer Bec has got.” Unable to receive a liver transplant as the cancer has progressed too far, Ms Mather was told she was untreatable yet is currently undergoing chemotherapy to slow the cancer down. In preparation for the marathon, the pair go on shorter distance runs during the weekdays and see a personal trainer. Still, on the weekends, the pair get together and go on their long-distance run at around 20 kilometres with a plan to improve on distance by two km each week. “We’re doing the Melbourne Marathon, the full 42.2 km – I’m actually going to be doing the Sandy Point half marathon on the 27th of this month, so two weeks, that will be the first half (marathon) that I’ve officially run,” Jodi said. Managing to rope in her best friend, Briony, an avid cardio hater, along for the ride, Jodi said Briony was “absolutely killing it”. Briony was originally only going to help with the fundraising side of it, but after a little consideration, decided the best way to support her friend was to tie the laces up and run with her. “It challenging both of us – I turned 40 this year and have never run a marathon, and I thought ‘why not?’ “The other morning, I got up – it was one degree outside. Ordinarily, I would’ve gone ‘nope’ and got back into bed, but my mindset now is ‘Bec doesn’t get a choice with her cancer, so I’m not going to slack off” ‘, Jodi said. The Blister Sisters are set to host a fundraising night at Warragul Country Club on Saturday, September 16, with very special guest comedian hypnotist Gerard V. There will be live music provided by Declan Taylor, raffles, auctions, games and prizes. With such wholesome inspiration and motivation like no other, Jodi said, “Life is just too short … You have got to make the most of each day.” Brainstorming fundraising ideas, the Blister Sisters have already organised a sock sale through Sockable Fundraising and will continue their fundraising efforts. You can follow their journey through the ‘Blister Sisters – Blitzing it for Bec’ Facebook page or donate directly to Ms Mather’s cancer fight head to gofund.me/4d72a569
