Cameron Gessner had no idea that when he lined up at the start line of last year’s MACA Cancer 200 – Ride for the Perkins, he was only seven months away from beginning his own cancer journey.
He knew cancer could happen to anyone. He just didn’t think it would be him. And certainly not yet.
The news that he had stage 3 bowel cancer came like a bolt out of the blue for the fit and healthy 45-year-old.
“You get given a piece of paper that says, ‘mass suspicious of malignancy’,” Cameron, an Area Maintenance Manager at Thiess Aus West, said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Feeling shocked and overwhelmed, Cameron was struggling to make decisions about his healthcare and which surgeon to opt for, when Operations Maintenance Manager John Moralee suggested he could reach out to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research for advice on Cameron’s behalf.
“It seems small but when John said that and they came back and said you’ve got the right guy (surgeon), that was so reassuring,” Cameron said.
“It made me feel so much better because it is all so daunting. And it is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make.”
Cameron has since undergone chemotherapy and radiation with surgery still to come. He said radiation has been the hardest, causing him to shed 6kgs from his already lean frame.
“It’s a rollercoaster of not knowing where you sit each day from the radiation because you can you can have a good period. And then it’s like, bam, something happens,” he said.
There is every likelihood Cameron rode in last year’s MACA Cancer 200 with the beginnings of cancer.
“I asked how long I’d had it and they said it could have been six months, or eight months, but very likely, when I did the ride last year, I already had it,” he said.
Cameron was moved listening to a speech by rider and cancer survivor Jon Caufield last year, while totally unaware he would be diagnosed himself seven months later.
“And there will likely be someone on the start line this year, that is sadly going to have a year like I’ve just had,” Cameron said.
“So, if fundraising and doing this ride can help prevent one person from having to go through what I’m going through, then that’s a win.”
Cameron still hopes to ride in this year’s MACA Cancer 200, which will be his third time participating.
“The plan is to ride both days, I want to be a part of it,” he said.
“My base fitness was quite high before cancer, so I’ve tried to maintain that. I’ve bought an indoor cycle set up and having been training on that.”
However, he is aware that there are no guarantees given the ongoing side effects of radiation and fact he is still receiving chemotherapy.
“I’ve got to be prepared for everything,” he said. “The goal is to be there and I think I will be fine, but you just don’t know.”
Cameron maintains his sense of humour joking that it’s been easier to fundraise this year, smashing his initial goal of $2500 with his current total hovering just below $9000.
“It’s much easier to raise money when you’ve got cancer and you’re going to do the ride,” he said.
He will be especially proud to pull on the Team MACA jersey this year, given the support he has received from the business over the few months.
“The way the business has supported me personally has been unbelievable,” he said. “I cannot say enough about how good they have been.”
For Cameron, the importance of raising money for cancer research cannot be downplayed.
“Mum went through breast cancer last year and had a pretty tough time of it. And then obviously with my own situation, I just think there’s got to be a cure or a better outcome, so people don’t have to go through this,” he said.
“What the Perkins do and how the business supports it is pretty amazing.”
