By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A COURAGEOUS Cranbourne woman has participated in her first Cancer Council Relay for Life just three weeks after her son lost his battle with cancer.
Cranbourne man Matthew Start was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 16 years old and his mother Sharon Start knew this disease would lead Matthew to have a higher risk of developing cancer.
Thirteen months ago Matthew was diagnosed with stage four metastatic bowel cancer despite years of managing the Crohn’s disease and leading an otherwise normal and fulfilling life.
He grew up in Cranbourne and was a self-employed plumber,” mother Sharon Start said.
“He did a mature age apprenticeship and only recently qualified as a plumber and started his own business, around the same time we got the diagnosis.”
Ms Start said her grieving process started long before her son succumbed to the disease.
“It was absolutely devastating and gut-wrenching to hear your son is terminally ill,” she said.
“He was fit, healthy, and strong otherwise and didn’t look sick for a long time even though he was terminal.
“It was just a nightmare and my grieving commenced then with that diagnosis, even though we hoped he would be one of the lucky ones and prolong his life but along with that there was a certain amount of grieving.”
Sadly, Matthew lost his battle with cancer on 19 October this year at the age of 35 after 18 rounds of chemotherapy and international treatments and is survived by his wife Ellyse.
Ms Start said the Cranbourne-Narre Relay for Life has been invaluable to her in dealing with the grief of losing her son and encourages anyone whose life has been touched by cancer to get involved.
“It’s extremely valuable and thoughtful because people don’t always know what to say but when you are with a group of people with shared experiences, they know what to say and know when to say nothing.
“You don’t have to explain yourself, they immediately understand and it feels very supportive to be amongst a group of people like that.
“It’s very important, I think, as soon as I stepped on to the athletics track, I felt it was where I was meant to be and the right place for me to be in the process of my grieving.”
As part of her honouring the memory of her son, Ms Short said she wants to pass on the messages her son had for people in a similar situation.
“He would be very keen on people being aware of the need to manage their conditions, such as Chron’s disease, and really keep up with the colposcopies and other tests because early detection is so important.”
Ms Start said her son’s cancer was too far advanced for simple treatment and management when it was detected but he found some comfort in complementary medicines.
She said that chemotherapy and current treatments are very important in the fight against the disease but has seen how helpful other treatments can be when combined with current medicines.
“Matthew was keen for people to know that while alternative treatments are not popular, it would be really good to see a greater emphasis on incorporating alternative treatments with the chemo,” she said.
“He found them comforting and helpful when his liver was so damaged nothing could be done.”
Ms Start said she plans on making the Cranbourne-Narre Relay for Life a regular part of her year calendar.
She even plans on dedicating her efforts at next year’s Relay for Life to her late son and putting together a fundraising team dedicated to her son’s memory called Mattitude.
