Margaret Wetzler-Brazel will quite literally be riding for a future without cancer later this year when she takes on the Great Cycle Challenge.
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The month-long charity ride will lift off in Australia in October, when thousands of bike riders will pedal in a bid to raise awareness and money for childhood cancer.
“People need to be aware that there are a lot of kids in Moree who are diagnosed with cancer. It’s good for the community to get behind the families and support them,” Ms Wetzler-Brazel said.
Each rider sets their own distance target for the month, and pulls in donations from the community along the way.
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Ms Wetzler-Brazel has raised her target to 100km, and hopes to pull in $500.
“There are bike riders who go around the country and ride thousands of kilometres. Then there are other people who stay at home and use bike pedals. It doesn’t matter how far you ride, or how you do it, every bit counts.”
It’s not the first time Ms Wetzler-Brazel has taken on the challenge either, with her first run in 2015. Since then, the veteran bicycle rider has kept to the cause without fail. It’s a motivation that comes on the back of a traumatic time for the rider.
“I had a brain tumour in 2013. Going through the illness made me aware of what a lot of children have to go through when they are diagnosed with cancer,” Ms Wetzler-Brazel said.
Ms Wetzler-Brazel said the battle with the tumour was only half the journey: she also went through an intense period of rehabilitation to regain her coordination.
“I had to do balance training, learn how to walk again and how to drive. Even sitting on an exercise ball at the start was difficult. I just broke down when I could finally balance myself on the ball.”
Although she has full control of her coordination, she said she felt like a different person.
“It took me a few years to get to a new normal, to accept the new me.”
While she has come to accept her new identity, she said it was more precarious to go through the process as a child.
“They are still developing and learning who they are as they discover themselves. They shouldn’t have to be fighting cancer, they should be enjoying childhood.
“It would be nice to 'KICK cancers butt’ as one young child said once.”
Anyone interested in jumping on the bandwagon can donate money to Ms Wetzler-Brazel’s Great Cycle Challenge profile. Head to https://greatcyclechallenge.com.au/Riders/MargaretWetzlerBrazel.
