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Former cancer patient Shane Maher urges everyone to sign-up for Dry July
By Dry July on
A former Eltham basketball coach is urging everyone to give up alcohol and raise funds for cancer support as he embarks on his own road to recovery. 
Shane Maher was treated for lymphoma at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre two years ago and says that without the centre, his outlook would be very different.
Shane coached three teams at the Eltham Wildcats prior to his diagnosis, and led an active lifestyle.
“It was a shock,” Shane said. “I first had a tumour in my sinus which is very rare. My teeth started aching so I went to the dentist, who couldn’t find anything wrong. They thought it may have been one particular tooth so they pulled that one, and while I was under [anaesthetic] they took a blood sample. And that was it.”
Shane said that he felt like ‘a rabbit in the spotlight’ when he first arrived at the ONJ Centre in Heidelberg for his cancer treatment. “I’d never been to hospital before, not in 50 years of life,” Mr Maher said. But thanks to the staff’s care and effort and readily available information, Mr Maher “got through it ok.”
“I have a long road to recovery, but I’m very fortunate,” Shane said.
Now, this father of three is keen to support the Dry July campaign as part of a push to raise vital funds for the ONJ Centre’s cancer services.
“As sick as I was, I would never wish this on my worst enemy,” Shane said. “If you could help, why wouldn’t you? Everyone at the Centre was fantastic; I’d never have a bad word about them – they made your time in there the best it could be.
For media enquiries, please contact [email protected] or (02) 9247 6691
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Dry July 2016 a success
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Over 16,700 Australians embarked on their Dry July journey in 2016, giving up alcohol for the month in order to raise funds for adults living with cancer.
So far, their combined efforts have raised $3.59 million, which will be used to ease the burden, reduce stress, and add comfort for those affected by cancer. The way Dry July achieves this is by funding support services such as hospital transport, patient accommodation, free Wi-Fi, and mobile phone chargers. The aim is to help in ways that may not be front of mind following a cancer diagnosis, and in turn hopefully reducing anxiety for patients.
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Dry July Shave Off
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Mark Udovitch, along with the team at the Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre, held their Dry July Shave Off on Friday as their own personal take on the Dry July challenge.
Mark is a radiation therapist at the centre, and was inspired to grow out his hair when one of his patients told him that losing hers was more daunting than losing her breasts to her cancer.
Mark then decided to grow his hair long enough for it to be donated to a wig library for patients, which was done on the 29th July. To showcase the exact hair that he would be donating, Mark decided to create a campaign that would also raise money for Dry July, which involved him impersonating other fellow long-haired celebrities. His impressions include Kim Kardashian, Kate...
My Dry July: Team Dry Patch
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Last year, the Hardy family participated in Dry July simply because they felt passionate about the cause, but what they didn’t expect was that less than a year later, cancer would personally affect their family.
On the 25th April 2016, their mother, Anne, was diagnosed with an invasive facial tumour. Her only option was to go through a gruelling 10-hour surgery for it to be removed, and currently, Anne faces a long road of radiation and chemotherapy.
“She is a strong and amazing person who will fight this with all she has. We love and admire her beyond words,” says her daughter Nicole.
The family have set up a Dry July team, “Dry Patch”, where Anne has agreed to have her image used as the cover photo. Nicole emphasises, “This...