2008 will be the 2^nd year that the charity has been in operation. So the question arises why do it all again? Why put your body through so much pain over such a long period of time all over again? Isn’t once enough?

The simple answer to this is simple in my mind. Because I can! And more than that because I want to!

Below is a brief history about how the charity came about:

On September 29, 2005 my sister Natalie Kim Hobbs passed away after a 2 year fight with cancer. This was an extremely traumatic period in my families life. For me it will be something I never forget, and something that inspires me to live life to the fullest every day, because every day is a gift.

Natalie Kim Hobbs was born on the 18^th March 1981 to Kerrie and Keith Hobbs. As a child Nat had a very normal life, she went to school had fantastic friends. She was involved with Girl Guides, Ballet, Swimming and was a keen musician.

As a young girl Nat went to Beecroft Primary School as well as Abbotsleigh Junior Girls for a period of time. Nat’s senior education was at Northholm Grammar School where she met a fantastic circle of friends.

Following school Nat went to University briefly studying Marine Biology although after a short period of time she decided that this was not for her and she would try her hand in hospitality.

In early 2003 things started turning bad. The right side of Nat’s face started to droop. After a month of consultation with doctors Nat was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June 2003. At this stage Keith and Kerrie were in the United States just about to attend a wedding of their nephew, a wedding that Nat was also supposed to attend.  This diagnosis was found to be incorrect and in early August was diagnosed as Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.

Nat was to have a major base skull operation later that year. The operation involved going through the roof of her mouth to try and cut out the tumor. After 5 hours of surgery the doctors made a call (when they nearly lost her) that they could not complete the operation successfully. Every time they took a new piece to test if it was still part of the tumor it came back positive. Unfortunately the surgery did not work, but they did find out that it was much bigger than they had first anticipated.

I was fortunate enough to be in Nat’s intensive care room when she came out of the anaesthetic and I will never forget the words she said to me “…see it did not get me…I am still bullet proof…” This phrase still sends shivers through my body today, but it is a phrase that gives me so much drive to succeed.

Nat tried various treatments from then on; radiotherapy, chemotherapy, radiowave therapy from Dr John Holt in Western Australia and various other treatments. None of which worked.

Unfortunately over the rest of Nat’s life the only thing people could do was try to make her comfortable. While a lot of research was taking place into alternate treatments Nat continued to try and live her life to the best of her ability.

On the 2^nd September 2005, I received a call from Kerrie, telling me that Nat had collapsed in Castle Towers Shopping Centre and had seemed to take a major turn for the worse.

On the 4^th September 2005 I was competing in the NSW Marathon Kayaking Titles at Penrith. Nat had decided that she wanted to come and watch. My heart sank as she struggled to get out of the car using two walking canes and having Keith and Kerrie helping her. She could barely walk. After the race I helped her back to the car.

That night we went to dinner for Keith’s birthday. Nat was in so much pain, and this was extremely visible and a number of times I walked out the front of the restaurant with her so she could let out her pain away from everyone else. Little did we know then that this would be the last family meal we all had together.

With in days, Nat was admitted to hospital. She remained in the Mater for a number of days before being transferred to Grenache Palliative Care Hospital. She was here for about 5 days before being transferred back to the Mater hospital where she was surrounded by family and close friends up until she passed away.

Poor Nat had no chance, although she fought the thing with all her might till the end she refused to give up. I know we are a stubborn family but this shows the fight and determination that was Nat her entire life. This is what drives me to make this a success.

What is Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma:

 Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon form of malignant neoplasm that arises within secretory glands, most commonly the major and minor salivary glands of the head and neck. Other sites of origin include the trachea, lacrimal gland, breast, skin, and vulva. This neoplasm is defined by its distinctive histological appearance.

The unfortunate part of all this is there is no known way of treating this form of cancer. The raw truth is the doctors and scientists know very little about this disease.

Losing my little sister was/is incredibly hard to come to terms with. I guess the hardest part for me was feeling totally helpless through the whole process, and standing like a bystander at a car accident where nothing I could do would stop what was about to happen.

Many of you will have heard the story about how I came about developing the initial charity called Paddle for a Cure. After a successful 2006 campaign, we decided to give it another shot.

This year the charity has grown, we now have a team of 8 paddlers, some who have never paddled before. Our goal, is to raise money to help create a palliative care facility for young people at the Mater Hospital Sydney – Such a facility currently does not exist in Sydney.

Last campaign we raised enough money to purchase a car so as the hospital can employ a mobile palliative care nurse to treat people in their own home, this year we would like to take it one step further. Our goal is to raise $30,000 to put towards creating a palliative care facility.

David Hobbs

Kayaking For A Cause