A march to remember, support and inspire will take place this weekend. The annual Melanoma March will kick off from 7.30am on Sunday, March 18, at the Bunbury Power Boat Club.
melanomaWA chief executive Clinton Heal said he hoped the community would support the event.
“We have our regular support meetings in Bunbury and we’ve been investing in the community for a number of years,” he said.
“People who have been diagnosed with melanoma, it’s not always an easy journey so being able to show our support for those people is really important.”
Bunbury man and Melanoma March ambassador Brad Gray was diagnosed with stage 3 metastatic melanoma in 2014.
Since then he has undergone five major surgeries to remove tumours in his neck, aorta and brain.
His last treatment was almost a year ago and he still has three monthly check ups.
Mr Gray encouraged everyone to come down to the march and to look after themselves.
“In the early stages of getting melanoma I got in touch with Clinton and found out about the support group they run in the South West so I’ve been attending them for the last three years,” he said.
“I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through, it’s pretty important to put the message out there that we need to look after ourselves – you still want to enjoy the outdoors but take care.
“With melanoma there is no safe phase, you could go a year, you could go five, ten years and then it comes back and unfortunately it comes back quite aggressive.”
For more information visit melanomamarch.org.au.