Karen Roylance and her brother Rob Alexander will be taking part in the Ride to Conquer Cancer. 83042 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By XAVIER SMERDON
A WYNDHAM Vale woman that has learned first-hand the pain that cancer can cause, will be doing her part to try and make a difference.
Karen Roylance and her brother Rob Alexander from Altona Meadows will be taking part in the Ride to Conquer Cancer to benefit the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre later this year.
The brother and sister cycling duo’s father Edward died almost 30 years ago from cancer before their aunty and uncle were also taken by the disease.
Now Karen’s neighbour and one of her best friends are also battling cancer.
“No matter where you turn these days there is someone that’s been effected by cancer,” Ms Roylance said.
“When I originally sent an email out at work saying I was going to be taking part in the ride, the number of emails I got back was just amazing. I don’t think there would be many people that haven’t been touched by it.”
In October the pair will ride from Melbourne to the Yarra Valley, covering more than 200 kilometres in one weekend.
Aside from their $50 registration fee, all riders also need to raise a minimum of $2500 to be able to ride.
Karen has already raised more than $3000 and is hoping to reach $5000.
Ms Roylance said their experiences with cancer motivated her and Rob to enter the event.
“It was hard going through all that, especially for mum because there’s five of us kids and then for her sister and brother-in-law to get it too must have been difficult,” she said.
“When I heard about this I thought not only is it a challenge but it’s something that’s been right in our faces for such a long time.”
For more information or to support Karen and Rob visit www.conquercancer.org.au or call 1300 007 433 and quote their rider numbers which are 7601514 for Karen and 7614886 for Rob.
