Strathalbyn woman Sarah Mosbey is turning her recent cancer diagnosis into an opportunity to raise money for charity by giving up soft drinks throughout July to support her fellow cancer patients.
The 40-year-old mother of three, pictured, is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, but believes the diagnosis has given her an opportunity to help others in similar positions.
“When you have a cancer diagnosis, it immediately puts uncertainty into your life and future, and it is really hard to sometimes hear that,” she said.
“There was pretty much nothing that I could do ... to help myself with that diagnosis that would change that.
“It was what it was and I felt, instead of being helpless, I could be helpful and help other people who were going through the same thing.”
After being told by her doctor in May that she had cancer, Ms Mosbey was sitting at the Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) when she noticed a flyer on the wall for the national fundraiser, Dry July.
While the official event encourages participants to give up alcohol in their pursuit of raising funds for cancer research, she already didn’t drink alcohol and wanted to do something different.
Quitting soft drinks
Ms Mosbey instead swore to quit soft drinks to raise “at least $1000” for SA charity Flinders Foundation, which supports FMC and Flinders University clinicians and medical researchers to improve preventions, cures and care for those suffering from medical conditions.
“I felt like God was prompting me to look at it and consider it because I was entering a really difficult and hard situation ... and that in this hard circumstance, I could produce something good from it,” she said.
The Flinders Foundation is raising money from Dry July participants for a Sozo machine, which helps treat the lymphatic side effects of breast cancer treatments.
Ms Mosbey said she started promoting her fundraiser by posting links on social media and talking to people about it and had already raised more than $1300 in donations. But she said the benefit in her personal spin on Dry July had not only been raising money for the charity but also the health benefits from avoiding sugary drinks. The Cancer Council said breast cancer was the “most common cancer in women in Australia”, with one in eight diagnosed over their lifetimes and more than 20,000 women diagnosed last year alone.
Cancer support
The Dry July Foundation, which distributes donations to local and national cancer support organisations, supports the Cancer Council and other charities, including Ovarian Cancer Australia and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
To support Ms Mosbey’s fundraising efforts, visit tinyurl.com/sarah-mosbey.
