'I lost Mum to cancer two months after my wedding'

I've been part of the Mother's Day Classic in Perth since 2009, as a participant and sometimes MC, through my work with Channel Nine.

Every year I'd take my own mum, Liz, and spend the morning celebrating mothers, while helping to raise awareness about breast cancer in the community.

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My mum knew all about breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2004, she endured chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell replacement.

Her experience gave the Mother's Day Classic an emotional significance for us, and we continued to do it together until 2010, when Mum was diagnosed with another form of cancer.

This time it was multiple myeloma, which attacks your plasma cells. More chemo and radiotherapy, losing her hair a second time.

She was so strong and determined to beat it again, but her body had been ravaged by years of treatment and the odds were against her.

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No matter how hard she tried, her system struggled to fight back.

Mum died in 2012, aged 63, two months after my wedding. My heart was broken.

Losing Mum lit a fire in me to continue to do what I could to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Fast forward to 2021 and I have two little girls of my own, Ivy and Margot. Granddaughters my mum never got to meet.

The girls have come along to see me MC the Mother's Day Classic in Perth, and even helped with hosting duties! They know it means a lot to me and I'm proud of that.

We need to show the new generation how important this all is; to make sure they're given the chance to live in a world free from breast cancer.

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Seeing the participants in the Mother's Day Classic every year, physically or virtually (thanks, COVID), always gives me such a boost.

This year, I'm proud to be an ambassador for the event in Canberra, my home for the next two years.

It gives me a chance to meet like-minded people, all with a shared goal: fundraising to find a cure for this awful disease while honouring the most important women in our lives. Let's do it for them.

In 2021, the Mother's Day Classic is going local! On Sunday May 9, participants will be getting active for breast cancer research in their own way or at one of many smaller, community driven local locations across Australia. Funds raised will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help fund life-saving breast cancer research projects. Registrations are open here.