Jess Ellis

I'm taking on The March Charge...

Why I walk: 

In 2003, just weeks after mum getting married, my mum was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer and given 3 years to live. After further testing, it was discovered that the cancer had metastasised. Within days, she was taken in for surgery for a hysterectomy, but during the operation it became clear that the cancer had spread too far for anything more to be done.

Over time, the cancer spread to her bladder and later to her bones. Mum endured countless procedures, including radical chemotherapy and radiation. Eventually, treatment shifted from cure to comfort, and the focus became pain management.

In the final months, palliative care nurses visited our home daily. They were extraordinary, providing not just equipment like an electric bed and wheelchair, but compassion, dignity, and support at any hour of the day or night. Mum lived with relentless, intolerable pain, and an intrathecal pump was fitted to help block pain signals to her brain, easing some of her suffering.

In April 2007, my mum passed away peacefully at home on the Sunshine Coast.

I am walking to honour her strength, to thank the incredible nurses and carers who supported her, and to help raise awareness and funds so that other families may have more time, more comfort, and more hope than we were given. This walk is for my mum, and for every family affected by cancer.

If you’re able to donate, no matter the amount, I’d be so grateful. But absolutely no pressure. Every step and every dollar truly makes a difference. Thank you for supporting something so close to my heart.