WATCHING the deteriorating health of a friend’s young daughter has spurred a Mildura man into living his own life to fullest, while helping raise money and awareness for childhood cancer treatment.
Simon Dowdle visited Mount Gambier late last week as part of the Braver, Stronger, Smarter campaign, which will cover around 16,000km across Australia’s coastline and outback.
Mr Dowdle recalls the devastation of watching his friend’s daughter, Eva Wheatley, lose her battle to metastatic embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer which causes the body’s cells to grow out of control.
Aged just six, Eva died in 2014, a moment which proved to be life-changing for Mr Dowdle.
“She was a happy and cheerful girl, just like any other young kid,” Mr Dowdle said.
“She continued to play her favourite sport hockey, even after she lost her left arm to the beast early in 2014.
“My trip, Dings Tour for a Cure is for Eva, allowing me to live my life just like she would have.”
Mr Dowdle said he was sitting at the edge of an “early grave” running his own business as well as working full-time.
“I have always wanted to see Australia and if I fast forward over three decades I still had not done it yet,” he said.
“I spent some money on myself for once and bought a car and camping essentials with the plan to find free camping groups and trek the land for myself.
“I want to get the word out there to everyone about how toxic the current cancer treatments being used are for children and how people can help.”
Mr Dowdle said he wanted to shine the light on childhood cancer through the campaign.
“I want to show we are a genuine charity that people from anywhere and everywhere can donate to,” he said.
Starting his travels on May 26, Mr Dowdle has travelled through Loxton, Penola, Mount Gambier, Millicent and Robe, venturing north to Adelaide where he will head to Oodnadatta before continuing clockwise around Australia.
“Since being in Mount Gambier it has been raining the whole time and I have been very cold,” he said.
“I might have picked the wrong time of the year for my trip but, I am looking forward to visiting the Blue Lake, Mount Schank, Valley Lakes and just the area in general.
“I have visited the Umpherston Caves and the kiosk operator Julie donated a set of wombats to auction off online and raise more funding which was very generous.”
Mr Dowdle hopes to raise $16,000 through the trip – one dollar for every kilometre.
“We did not want to aim too high and make it ridiculous, but we thought having a set figure was a great way to increase motivation,” he said.
“We hope this money will be used to improve the cancer treatment medication developed over 30 to 40 years ago, originally designed to fight adult cancer.
“Even if we do not reach that mark every dollar counts and we are grateful for the over $1000 we have raised so far.”
Donate to the Braver, Stronger, Smarter charity by visiting Dings Tour for Cure Facebook Page or the foundation’s website.
