A finance specialist channels her health and fitness goals to help fund a campaign that aims to save women's lives
Despite having no family history of Breast Cancer, Mortgage and Finance Solutions Australia finance specialist Sandy Joseph was diagnosed with the disease in April 2015. She’s now free of the disease, after several medical procedures and ongoing treatment.
Joseph makes it a point to maintain an active lifestyle through a dedicated fitness regimen, which includes walking. In 2016, an opportunity arose to cover 60km at the Hawaiian Walk for Women's Cancer so she jumped at the chance. Joseph wanted to be a part of a campaign that funds research at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in finding better treatments, preventions, and diagnosis for cancers that affect women.
"I wanted to be able to contribute in a small way to research," Joseph said. "So that my daughter, her friends and all women will have a better chance of survival, be it breast cancer, ovarian cancer or any other form of women's cancer," Joseph said.
The activity is anything but easy. Joseph has undergone several surgeries and bears the side effects of a long treatment programme that targets the bone and joints. But she remains undaunted: "I’m alive and able to do it, so I do!" Joseph walked 30km in one single day during last year’s event, and plans to do the this year with her team, “The Pink Warriors.” Their efforts were able to yield about $20,000 for charity over the past two years.
The fundraising campaign has become a yearly event for her. Joseph believes that research like the ones Perkins Institute conducts is crucial to increase cancer survival rate, as they come up with better screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options. And funds are always needed.
The campaign may not directly benefit Joseph's business, but it strongly conveys her values. "I do have a lot of clients who are aware of my journey and still come back to me for finance," Joseph said. "They say I have inspired them, so from that I have achieved something."
