Ride helps to find cure
In honour of Sophie
THE photo of an eight-year-old little girl taped to a bike kept Toowoomba’s Sarah Cox going during a two day ride from Brisbane to Lake Wivenhoe and back at the weekend.
The 27-year-old originally from Augathella, completed her third Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer Cancer since its inception in 2011.
Miss Cox and her family started to ride after a family friend lost their battle with leukaemia. Recently her friend Sophie, 8, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and lost her battle in April.
“Since our first ride we have had many more friends and members of our small community diagnosed,” she said.
“After spending a lot of time in Turner ward at the Royal Brisbane Hospital I saw so many beautiful kids be constantly poked and prodded, their small fragile bodies pumped with toxic drugs.
“I couldn’t sit back and watch and hope that someone else would be fundraising or donating to help find a cure or even a better treatment plan for these kids, so I became proactive fundraising and doing this ride.
“Soph taught my sisters and I how to tackle challenges head on, she showed us what courageous and brave really were and that no challenge is ever too big.
“Doing this ride is easy in comparison to what we saw Soph go through and what all cancer suffers go through.”
Miss Cox said this year’s ride was a special one as they had Sophie’s parents and brother come and cheer them on.
“We had Soph our little hero on our chest and a pic of Soph taped to our bike and another very special four-year-old Bridget Muller who, like Soph, is still fighting her battle,” she said.
“We raised close to $3000 this year with a combined total over the three years in excess of $30,000 between myself and my sisters.”
This year in Queensland, more than 23,000 people will be diagnosed with a form of cancer and 7500 people will lose their battle. The vital funds raised over the last three years of The Ride are powering dozens of ground-breaking research programs investigating the causes of more than 13 cancers including skin, brain, colorectal, breast, ovarian, blood and lymphoma.
Visit conquercancer.org.au or call 1300 117 433 to donate or for more information.