The 31-year-old social worker is one of the Cancer Council WA’s top fundraisers for the Run for a Reason, to be held on May 22, an event that aims to raise $1.5 million for WA health charities.
Ms Beardman said her father went to Swan District Hospital in February last year with suspected pneumonia and was discharged a few days later.
She said he had some blood tests on a Friday and the hospital diagnosed his cancer and readmitted him on the Wednesday.
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READ NOW“He was a gardener; he thought it was just old age and back pain, but it had spread to his bones by that stage,” Ms Beardman said.
“We found out he’d had cancer for three or four years and he’d had no symptoms at all.
“They moved him to Fiona Stanley and within two weeks of being told he had cancer he passed away.”
Ms Beardman also lost two uncles to cancer. She said she started fundraising for the 12km leg of Run for a Reason to try to “make a difference”.
She said she was not a fan of running and started training in the past month.
“I’m just kind of hoping I’ll survive it. I want to finish it under two hours,” she said.
Cancer Council WA fundraising manager Betty Cottrell said the organisation thanked everyone running for the Cancer Council.
“The money raised by Cancer Council WA’s supporters during HBF Run for a Reason goes towards providing vital support services for people living with cancer and their families, education for the community on cancer, and of course research and prevention programs,” she said.
One in two Australians are diagnosed with cancer and in WA more than 12,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
Ms Beardman said she aimed to raise $1000. To donate go to https://hbfrun2016.everydayhero.com/au/brooke-1.