Gold Coast businesswoman and Griffith University alumnus Linda Quinn is taking the fight against cancer to new heights, setting out for Mt Everest Base Camp next month in support of the Cherish Women’s Cancer Foundation.
Linda Quinn with her husband, Damien.
Ms Quinn — a graduate of the very first intake of Environmental Engineering students at the University and the owner/operator of the Burger Urge Burger Bar at Griffith’s Gold Coast campus — and her trekking partner, Nikki Frame, are aiming to raise $35,000 for the foundation, which finds and funds clinical research to better treat gynaecological cancer.
This will be Cherish’s first-ever trek to Everest Base Camp in the name of gynaecological cancer research, and the intrepid pair of women are accepting donations through GiveNow ahead of their scheduled departure on 19 March.
“The increasing number of women and girls diagnosed with gynaecological cancer each year need our support; almost a third will not survive their disease,” Ms Quinn said.
“The challenge before us is creating ways to fund research into gynaecological cancer that result in improved survival rates, treatment options, prevention and detection to improve the quality of these women’s lives.”
Nikki Frame (centre) with husband Darren and ovarian cancer advocate and blogger Kristen Larsen.
Ms Frame, a mother of two and a member of the Cherish board, is a gynaecological cancer survivor. She was 27 when she was diagnosed with the disease following a routine pap smear, and she credits the expert — and, at the time, pioneering — treatment by gynaecologist and Cherish founder Professor Andreas Obermair with preserving her now-realised dream of having a family.
“There are times when I hear about people’s diagnosis of cancer and I think of how lucky I am that I caught mine early enough that I only had to have surgery and no follow-up treatment,” she said. “I am just thankful that I can share my life with my two beautiful children.
“I am certainly eternally thankful and grateful to Dr Obermair for what he did for me. I truly believe that if it wasn’t for his abilities, I would have … not had my children.”
In 2018, new cases of gynaecological cancer were diagnosed in an estimated 6257 women (9.8% of all new female cancer cases diagnosed in Australia), making it the third-most common form of the disease, and was responsible for 1794 deaths across the year (9.4% of all female deaths from cancer).
So far, the inaugural Cherish Women’s Cancer Foundation Everest Base Camp Trek has raised $74,708 towards its goal.
More information about the foundation, and the Base Camp Trek, can be found at its website.
Donate to Ms Quinn and Ms Frame’s Everest trek through GiveNow.
