ProRisk has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to support Cancer Council Australia, the country's leading non-government cancer charity and said to be the only Australian charity that works across every aspect of every cancer – from research to prevention and support.
The fundraiser will see Jaydon Burke-Douglas, ProRisk general counsel and head of operations, and Chris Varkoly, ProRisk national business development manager, risk their lives and limbs climbing the 15 tallest peaks in Australia in three days.
“Over the years, I've been known to have done a lot of stupid things for charity,” Burke-Douglas said on the GoFundMe page.
“From driving a tuk-tuk across India to doing the 15,000-km Mongol Rally in a Ford Fiesta and to doing the Sh*tbox Rally last year, where we drove an $800 Falcon from Sydney to Alice Springs via the Gulf of Carpentaria.”
This could be his “most outrageous [fundraising effort] yet”, Burke-Douglas said.
Burke-Douglas encouraged people to donate to make a difference for people with cancer.
“Cancer is a curse that has affected so many of our lives: our loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Almost everyone has been touched in some way by this curse,” he said.
“By supporting our little adventure, you'll be helping them in their tireless work in supporting people affected by cancer when they need it most.”
There are more than one million people in Australia living with or who have lived with cancer, according to a 2021 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report. This is expected to increase with time as incidence and survival rates continue to rise.
Cancer is responsible for 18% of “the burden of ill health suffered by Australians” and almost 9% of health system expenditure that can be attributed to “specific diseases”, the report said.
Seventy percent of people now survive for at least five years following a cancer diagnosis (excluding data on basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin), according to the report, an increase from 51% “about” 30 years ago.
AIHW estimated in the 2021 report that 151,000 people would that year be diagnosed with cancer, and 49,000 people would likely die as a result of cancer. Yearly newly diagnosed cancer cases could hit 185,000 by 2031, with the report attributing this change to population growth and an ageing population.
