At one of the most difficult times a man could go through, Sonia Strachan and her colleagues Nicole Lewis and Lynda Morrison are there to help them through it.
All are either prostate or bowel cancer specialist nurses at GV Health and play pivotal roles in the diagnosis, treatment and, hopefully, recovery of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“We’re there for the whole journey, and for some men, we’re involved for many, many years, others it could be quite short-term, but for many of them, we are involved for a long time,” Ms Strachan said.
“It’s just making sure they know they’re not on their own, that they’re going to be very well supported and making sure that they’ve got accurate information, that they’re not just pulling information off Google.”
The jobs of all three are funded by the Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch, which is being held in Shepparton on Friday, October 13.
The vital assistance they provide would not be available in Shepparton without the lunch and the generosity of those who contribute to its fundraising.
“Wouldn’t be. Would not be here without that Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch, which is quite an extraordinary legacy that Chris McPherson has left,” Ms Strachan said.
Chris McPherson was an owner of McPherson Media Group, publisher of The News, and founder of the lunch.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 and passed away in December 2015, but the success of the lunch has meant the funding of prostate and bowel cancer nurses, as well as biopsy equipment that allows patients to remain in the Goulburn Valley for longer.
“This is a ninth year, and we’ve supported over a thousand men, so it’s about a hundred men every year,” Ms Strachan said.
“It’s incredible. It’s a lot of lives influenced. Unfortunately, some of those have passed away with prostate cancer, but many of them are living quite well and hopefully have been well supported throughout that time.”
This year’s lunch has already sold out, with more than 1000 people attending.
Organisers say individuals, community groups and businesses have offered huge support, including the donation of a Collingwood jumper signed by its 2023 premiership team and donated by team member and Tallygaroopna export Steele Sidebottom.
“We’re oversubscribed, with generous, generous, generous businesses and individuals,” Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch committee chairman Shane O’Sullivan said.
“It’s just absolutely amazing, the generosity of the bloke down on table 101 or the bloke up the front on table one, they’re all just as important to us, and they are all there for the same purpose.”
Ms Strachan also said in a time when negative issues often gained the greatest attention, the Greater Shepparton community should be acknowledged for its annual contribution to causes such as the lunch.
“The generosity they give with the likes of the Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch is absolutely extraordinary, and I know when I talk to colleagues from all over Australia, and I talk about our model of care and what we’ve been able to do locally, they’re just gobsmacked to think that we’ve got that input from our local community and the investment,” she said.
“It’s incredible. It’s pretty special.”