Cape-to-Cape in memory of Penny Rickerby: Raising Funds for Research & Clinical Trials for Asbestos-Related Diseases

50 years after living in the asbestos-mining town of Wittenoom, my mum Penny contracted Mesothelioma; a lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Mum lost her short but brave battle a few weeks after her 60th birthday in August 2022.

Over the next few months, I will be raising funds for the National Centre for Asbestos-Related Diseases (NCARD) at the University of Western Australia. NCARD are currently undertaking ground-breaking research into asbestos-related diseases, specifically mesothelioma, as well as undertaking a number of clinical trials like the ones my mum was a part of.

The research and trials funded by NCARD gave my mum an extra 12-months with us that we may not have had otherwise. This allowed mum to meet and spend some time with my new-born daughter, Elsie.

My hope is that this research can one day find a cure for Mesothelioma, so that other families across the world do not have to experience the loss that we suffered last year.

On April 27 I will be walking the Cape-to-Cape in southwest WA in mum's memory. I plan on walking from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturalist and continuing down to Eagle Bay to mum's resting place, in 5 days.

My goal is to raise on average $100 per day for 100 days before I set off. This target of $10,000 will cover the cost of one mesothelioma patient, just like mum, to be a part of a new, world-first clinical trial to improve the combined chemoimmunotherapy using non-invasive imaging.