Our heroes this week are sisters Sarah and Anj who are taking on the Chicago Marathon in memory of their Grandfather. Whilst they were only 10 and 12 when he passed away they know how proud he would be of them for making a difference. Through their professions as a Nurse (Sarah ) and Doctor (Anj) they are constantly reminded of how important a cure is to so many people living with Parkinson’s.
What Drives Your Commitment to find a cure for Parkinson’s?
Our primary reason for fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research and what drives us, is because our grandfather had Parkinson’s disease. He was diagnosed when he was in his 60’s which was approximately the 1970’s. We always remember our grandpa being an amazing kind and loving man. He was a farmer just like my dad. And I am so grateful for how he raised my dad to be the loveliest person.
Why Shake It Up Australia?
Unfortunately grandpa passed away when we were only 10 and 12 years old. I’m sure he would of been so proud to know that Anj, my older sister has become a Doctor and that I am a nurse and midwife.
Tell us what you are doing to Shake Things Up?
Whenever we have cared for patients with Parkinson’s disease we have been reminded of how we wish there was prevention or a cure available.
Greatest Reward?
A few years ago we decided to run a marathon with a few friends. We ran our first marathon in Berlin in 2013 with 3 of our other friends and we called ourselves “Team Wombat” and got t-shirts made! Then we were hooked and we found out about the 6 world marathon majors (Berlin, Tokyo, New York, London, Chicago and Boston) and we ran the second one in Tokyo and the third in Boston.
Best advice for people looking to Shake It Up?
We are now up to our fourth marathon in Chicago and our “Team Wombat” has become smaller each marathon and now there is just me and Anj!! And we thought there was no better time than now to raise money and run for Team Fox. We spoke to Laura at Team Fox (Michael J. Fox Foundation) and asked her if we could run for Team Fox but raise money for Shake it Up Australia so that our donors would be able to claim their donations as tax deductions as this would greatly increase the amount of money we could fundraise.
We have created our fundraising platform online and have had some incredible donations so far and we are thinking up some ways to keep our fundraising going.
