Media Release

Plucky cancer survivor Walking Tall in 350km trek to Albury

5 November 2005

Cancer survivor Nicole Shipard today sets out on Walking Tall 2, a walk of 350 kilometres from Melbourne to Albury, in a bid to raise more than $200,000 for a new DNA cancer testing service at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Ms Shipard, who walked from Albury to Melbourne last year, will be joined in her return walk by 28-year-old leukaemia sufferer Dinesh Perera.

No strangers to hardship, the pair will raise funds for the hospital's Centre for Molecular Genetics. The centre is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and is developing new DNA tests to help identify the early return of cancer in leukaemia patients.

Ms Shipard survived a lengthy battle with leukaemia. She spent 15 months at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and endured 54 weeks of chemotherapy, surviving several near death experiences along the way. Mr Perera, first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2002, is still receiving treatment.

Founder of the Centre for Molecular Genetics Dr Annabel Tuckfield said the centre now has about 30 different tests they perform, compared with the three they had when relying on conventional techniques.

"Using old methods, we had to send tests all over Australia to get the results back and it could take up to three-months, which is too long. Now we do more specific testing and get the results back between two and 10 days," she said.

"This new form of DNA genetic testing can be specifically developed for each individual patient. This means the tests are more thorough and we can detect the return of cancer much earlier. It's helping us save lives."

As well as contributing to the Centre for Molecular Genetics, Walking Tall funds also support the employment of an oncology-trained psychologist in the Albury Wodonga community, to provide psychological and social support to cancer sufferers.

The Walking Tall2 journey begins on the front steps of The Royal Melbourne Hospital today and will progress through regional Victoria before ending in Albury on Saturday 19 November.

More than 50 supporters, including the hospital's CEO Dr Peter Brennan and other executives, will accompany the two walkers for the first few kilometres of their journey.