Meet the Bungendore mum rallying to raise funds to treat rare cancers
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Bungendore mother and award-winning Canberra and national cyber security leader, Amy Roberts, is hitting the road as she gets ready for the Shitbox Rally all in the name of charity.
Driving for eight gruelling days and crossing three state borders on some of the toughest roads across the outback with her husband Greg, the ‘Bungendore Hooters’ is raising money for cancer research – and it’s personal.
Diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) in January 2023, Amy wants to increase awareness about the rare cancer while also raising funds for the Cancer Council to support others in their journey.
Because hers has been anything but easy.
Noticing swelling, bruising, and heat in one of her breasts in November of 2022, Amy was originally told she had mastitis and was put on a course of antibiotics. By January, her symptoms hadn’t changed.
Within 14 days her life turned upside down as she received her diagnosis and was told that it had metastasised to her bones.
“I knew something was terribly wrong and that antibiotics weren’t going to fix anything. And ironically, I had written a bucket list over on New Year’s Eve, when I hadn’t even had a diagnosis yet,” says Amy.
“Between the 11th of January and the 25th of January, it went from ‘You’ve got mastitis’ to ‘You’ve got stage four cancer’…It was a very difficult time.”
A rare and very aggressive disease where cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast, IBC affects only one to three per cent of those diagnosed with breast cancer.
Taking hormone therapy oral medication to give herself more time with her family, friends, and her beloved Bungendore community, Amy says that accepting her diagnosis hasn’t been a linear journey – but from travelling to Queensland to spend more time with her adult children, to saying ‘yes’ to everything, she’s making the most of a life she loves.
“It’s been amazing to watch friends and family be inspired by me doing stuff and not having any fear of failure, which you live with when you don’t have a life-limiting disease. I think that’s the thing – making sure to do the things you want to do,” she says.
“It was a conservative bucket list. If I were to write it again now, it would involve being around the people I love. Every time I thought about moving to a villa in France for three months – sure Greg and I could do that but the people we love are here. Why would I move away from everybody if I’ve got limited time left?”
In fact, it was a spontaneous ‘yes’ during a champagne-fuelled conversation with friends that inspired Amy and Greg to sign up for the Shitbox Rally in the first place.
The Shitbox Rally isn’t a race but rather a challenge – one to drive cars worth just $1,500 across Australia via some of its most formidable roads.
Departing Bendigo on 18 October with her husband Greg, Amy will be driving to Townsville via Betoota in their 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer sedan named ‘Hootie’ (which is hard to miss with the numberplate HOOTRS – and yes there’s a story around that).
From themed dress-up days (which will see Amy in a mermaid costume and a ‘boobs and buttons’ dress) to mini-concerts in the car and seeing a new side of Australia, the couple is ready to smash through 3,500km of the outback in the name of breast cancer and IBC.
And all of the funds raised going directly to the Cancer Council, the Bungendore community has rallied behind her – including Bendigo Bank, and the Bungendore Ruby Union Football Club making major donations – seeing Amy and Greg currently hold the title as the top Shitbox Rally fundraisers.
With over $54,000 raised at the time of writing, Amy knows first-hand the value of new groundbreaking medicines and treatments.
Originally told she had five years left with her family, because the hormone therapy oral medication she’s taking is so new, Amy says her future isn’t set in stone.
“Research is critical…Research provides statistics and data, and it’s that stuff that keeps people going,” she explains.
“Some of the funds were directed last from last year’s Shitbox Rallies to children’s blastoma cancer. Yes, I’ve got a poor diagnosis, but I’m not someone’s seven-year-old kid with a disease. So, if the researcher’s money goes into other people’s outcomes, that’s just amazing, that’s fabulous. That’s what is inspiring us to do it.”
From sparking conversations about IBC to collaborating with local musician Danny Velnaar to create a special song for the rally, and even designing a logo for Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Amy just wants to make a difference.
It might help someone like her.
“We tend to discount our own gut feelings. The one thing I want to say to people, to women in particular, is if anything changes about your breasts get it checked. You don’t need a lump to be diagnosed with breast cancer,” says Amy.
“Advocate for yourself if something isn’t right.”
For more information or to donate, visit spring2024.shitboxrally.com.au/bungendore-hooters.
To see where Amy and Greg are on their journey, keep an eye on them here.
