Ladybird Fund

The Ladybird Fund has been created by the Brooke family in honour of "Ginny" (Virginia Margaret Brooke).

Ginny passed away from metastasised breast cancer on October 9, 2015, nine years after her first diagnosis in 2006.

Shortly after her death, Ginny's family found a personal request she had written:

"15 December 2014

I am writing to you with my heart in my hands. With no time to glorify or beat about the bush I am setting up a program called AP the Avistan Project, or to me personally, I call it the advanced pressure.

Avistan is a drug not only prescribed for advanced bowel cancer but advanced breast cancer too. A drug doing great things but unfortunately for hundreds not covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

It is one thing to struggle with weekly chemotherapy for months at a time but then to find you have become resistant to the chemotherapy, is devastating. Only the horror gets far worse as your oncologist sits in front of you and explains there is another treatment that could help. However, it is not covered by your health insurance, if you are lucky enough to have one in the first place. Reality hits you not like a slap in the face but a stab in the heart. The drug is $1,500 a week.

For many, the idea of treatment is taken straight out of their hands. They have no way of ever having that kind of money or ever being able to make it, borrow it or be loaned it. For some, as the oncologist says "take the weekend to think about it"! their mind goes into blankness. The unbelievable, unfathomable, unrealistic and terrifying news slowly sinks in, through the tears and sobs they are already realising they cannot afford it. $1,500 is much more than some people's weekly wage.

Mortgage the house, sell shares, assets anything. Sell the house.

As the weekend progresses the truth slowly dawns on many, the drug is out of their reach.

For others, luckily enough, they can sell an asset. Shares, a second car, their precious boat, motorbike anything but their home. Not their home, their sanctuary, their nest for their children.

Cancer is cruel, but unless you belong to the club nobody wants to join, you have no idea that treatment can be crueller in many ways.

Not only am I beseeching you, I am begging you to look into your hearts and give generously. Every dollar WILL and can make a difference in having treatment or not.

For some grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, cousin or friend out there, your decision to help could make all the difference.

The money will be given as a gift to the patient from the said oncologist."


A donation to the Ladybird fund will help fulfil Ginny's wish to support women subjected to financial hardship because of their treatment not being available on the PBS.

The funds will be distributed to the most appropriate ladybirds by Professor Arlene Chan (Ginny's oncologist) through the Breast Cancer Research Center (BCRC), a non-profit organisation based in Perth, Western Australia. The Brooke family is working directly with BCRC in regards to this.

The goal of the Fund is to reach the target of $15,000 by the third anniversary of Ginny's death, October 9, 2018.

If the target of $15,000 is reached Ginny's son Oliver who has grown his hair (without cutting it) since her death, will cut off his hair on Ginny's anniversary and donate it as a wig.

RIP
Virginia Margaret Brooke
3 April 1961 - 9 October 2015

Breast Cancer Research Centre - WA

We are a clinician-led organisation where patient education and support services are initiated by the very people who treat breast cancer patients every day.
BCRC-WA is proudly a not-for-profit and a charitable organisation (Licence CC 21750).

Clinical trials are the only way to find out which new approaches to cancer treatments work better than the existing ones. We aim to further the global knowledge of breast cancer and it's treatments through our clinical trials.