Gary Au-Yeung and his wife Ana are our Shake It Up Heroes this week.

Gary’s advice – “Choose to be positive and appreciate what you have. Its amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.. and never give up”.

Why Shake It Up Australia?

We wanted to help in some way to find a cure for Parkinson’s. With 100% of monies donated going towards research, Shake It Up was the right vehicle. Plus reading about Clyde’s story was both inspiring and positive.

What drives your commitment to find a cure for Parkinson’s?

Our family has a number of connections to this disease. My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s just over 10 years ago, and he is now battling the late stages of the disease having spent about 2+ months in several hospitals earlier this year. My wife’s uncle and auntie also had Parkinson’s, and sadly both passed away recently. It’s not as uncommon as most people think, and it would be great to be able to raise the awareness of this disease and find a cure. Our contribution pales in comparison to the likes of Michael J. Fox and Clyde Campbell. I had the good fortune to bump into (not literally) Clyde going up Heartbreak Hill on Sunday, what an inspiration!

Tell us what you’re doing to Shake Things up?

Actually it was my wife’s idea, but we thought we would raise money for Parkinson’s by participating in several runs throughout the year. City2Surf was the first off the list. Next is the half-marathon. if my body recovers. We are just everyday people, not “heroes” .. just doing what we can to raise awareness and funding.

What’s your goal?

Increase awareness of Parkinson’s and raise funding. If we can get more people to understand the disease and at the same time, raise money to go into research for a cure, then I would be happy. Every little bit helps.

Best Advice

Choose to be positive and appreciate what you have. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.. and never give up.

Gary and Ana ran in the City2Surf raising over $3000.00.   Gary’s employer Westpac also matched any employee donations to Gary’s fundraising drive generating an additional $650.00 for Parkinson’s research.