Adam Struthers

Colon cancer — 1/5 stars. Wouldn't recommend.

I first got involved with Illawarra Relay For Life more than 20 years ago, working behind the scenes as an audio engineer. Back then I was the bloke behind the mixing desk making sure the cancer survivors on stage could be heard.

I didn't particularly expect that one day I'd be one of them.

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in June 2024. In August 2025 we discovered that it had spread to my liver and lungs, upgrading the diagnosis to Stage 4. Since then I've been through chemotherapy and six cancer surgeries involving my bowel, liver and both lungs.

After two lung operations in late 2025 and 2026 — and losing roughly a quarter of my lungs in the process — my August 2026 CT was almost clear. I'm still not quite out of the woods, and there may be another liver operation ahead.

The statistics aren't a countdown, but they're hard to completely ignore. Stage 4 colorectal cancer with the BRAF mutation that I have has historically had median survival measured in months, not years.

So getting to take part in another Relay feels rather more significant than it otherwise might.

On 19 September 2026, my family and I will be taking part in the 25th anniversary of Illawarra Relay For Life.

My cousin has been relaying for years in memory of her dad, who took part every year until cancer eventually took him. My family joined her in 2025, and Relay is now something I want Jolie and Bella to grow up with.

I obviously hope that twenty years from now I'm still annoying them by turning up and walking with them.

But I can't guarantee that.

What I can help build now is a family tradition and a village around them that will still be there either way — people they can laugh with, remember with, walk a few laps with, and lean on if they ever need to.

Donations to Relay For Life help Cancer Council fund research, prevention, advocacy and support for people with cancer and the families around them.

I've had considerably more personal experience of why that work matters than I ever expected to.

If you'd like to support us, thank you.