Brisbane musician Shelley Bishop has conquered cancer, and now she is gearing up to tackle her next challenge - the Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle for Cancer.
The 31-year-old is determined to clock up the kilometres on her bike to repay the medical community for saving her life.
This year, for the first time in its history, the iconic sporting event will raise money for Mater Foundation to fund life-saving cancer research and treatments.
Ms Bishop was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma two years ago, and immediately reached out to her friend and musical colleague Delta Goodrem, who battled the disease when she was 18 years old.
“She told me that you can’t be good every day, you can’t try and be a hero every day, which is what I was always trying to do,” Ms Bishop said. “It’s one day, one hour, one minute at a time … I’m so grateful for that advice.”
Ms Bishop had been in the best shape of her life, embarking on a health and fitness journey that saw her garner a 60,000-strong ‘Shred for Shelley’ following on social media.
But then she noticed a lump above her collar bone.
“I was really in tune with my body,” Ms Bishop said.
“I was used to maintaining my weight, knowing what my body did and how it reacted to workouts, but I just felt like I’d been unplugged - like the batteries were drained.”
Despite the lump continuing to grow, an ultrasound failed to reveal any red flags and further tests were inconclusive.
Eventually, Ms Bishop was in such discomfort that she had it surgically removed, which was when pathology tests identifying it as Hodgkin Lymphoma.
The five-year survival rate of the disease is around 85 per cent.
Ms Bishop opted to endure a round of radiation following her final chemotherapy treatment, to limit the chance of a relapse, but the side effects were debilitating.
“Living in the fast-paced lifestyle I was in, I just thought I was invincible, but no one gets an easy way out of this,” Ms Bishop said.
“Cancer is terrible - there’s nothing good about this journey - and you’re never going to be the same person you were before.
“I was so disciplined with my fitness and nutrition to the point where it was my whole life.
“But now I'm just so much more relaxed as a person, and I’m just working to find the balance.”
Ms Bishop is now on a mission to help others and can’t wait to join an estimated 5000 riders in the Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle for Cancer on Sunday 27 August.
“I’m so grateful that so much funding and time has already gone into science and research and developing better treatments, because that’s what enabled me to get from diagnosis to treatment to remission in less than a year,” she said.
“It’s because of events like this that there is funding and support, and I know first-hand that it makes a massive difference - it’s the reason that people get to live the quality of lives that they do.
“I’m going to be riding with a few friends and anyone else who wants to join ‘Team Shelley’!”
Mater Foundation Chief Executive Andrew Thomas said his team was excited to partner with Bicycle Queensland to bring the race back in 2023 – with more than 3,700 cyclists already registered to take part.
“We’re hoping that 5,000 cyclists will join us on this amazing journey – and we’re already well on the way to hitting that target,” Mr Thomas said.
“Every dollar raised will go towards funding world-class cancer research and patient care initiatives at Mater.
“Almost all of us will be touched by cancer at some point in our lives, with more than 400 people diagnosed with cancer every day in Australia.
“Events such as this power us towards a cure, making a real difference for people now and into the future.”
This year, riders can choose from three distances – the 100km Brisbane to Gold Coast classic, 60km from Logan to the Gold Coast, or 40km from Brisbane to Logan.
The Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle for Cancer will utilise a closed Brisbane South-East Busway to provide participants with a unique, safe riding experience, with parts of the course traffic-free.
Registrations are now open at b2gc.com.au.