Light up in memory

By Melissa Meehan
GEORGIA Armstrong describes late 2004 and early 2005 as a “bittersweet time”.
“It’s when I became a mum and I lost a mum,” Georgia said.
“My mum died of myaloma in January, just five months after my son was born.
“It was a very hard time for me.”
This year Georgia and her family will take part in the Leukaemia Foundation’s Light the Night in memory of her mum.
Along with fellow Emerald resident, Cherly Ely, Georgia is calling on the community to remember, celebrate and give hope to people living with blood cancer.
Georgia and Cheryl have had their own experiences with cancer.
This is the first year Georgia and her family will take part in Light the Night and will carry a gold balloon in memory of a mother lost and a grandmother missed.
“This is the first time we will take part in Light the Night,” she said.
“We had never really heard of it before, but we’ll keep doing it now.
“We have done the Mother’s Day Classic for the last seven years; it’s something nice to do as a family to remember mum and Granny together.”
Cheryl will carry a white balloon to celebrate being a blood cancer survivor.
She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2004.
Cheryl had three young children at the time, and had not been prioritising her health when she found a lump in her arm.
She went straight into 12 months of intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments that saved her life.
Now in her fifth year of remission, Cheryl feels it is a positive time of her life and is attending Light the Night to acknowledge her experience with lymphoma and celebrate her survival.
“It was a soul-searching journey,” she said.
“More of an emotional one that a physical journey.”
As a white balloon holder, Cheryl is encouraging others to help the Leukaemia Foundation raise $550,000 to fund cutting-edge research and free support services to patients and their families.
Light the Night will be held at the Treasury Gardens in Melbourne on Wednesday 15 September from 5.30pm.
To sponsor Cheryl or to register call 1800 550 088 or visit www.lightthenight.org.au.