North Shore local Julia Hammans recently competed in a Half Ironman to raise funds for ovarian cancer, all in honour of her beloved mum.
Moving to Australia from Germany when she was just five years-old, Julia’s family have always been avid travellers.
Calling Mosman home for the better part of two decades now, Julia described her mum Claudia as being the rock in their family.
“My siblings and I were all really close with her, she was a stay-at-home mum, so she was always our number one, our biggest support and the first person to be there when we needed help,” Julia says.
In 2016, Julia’s mum, Claudia, was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer at the age of 53 and courageously went through numerous chemotherapy treatments and medical trials.
“When she was first diagnosed, I was only in Year 10, so that was definitely gut-wrenching,” Julia explains.
“Through it all though, Mum was just so strong, and we all tried to just keep going as a family as normal.”
But after an incredibly inspiring six-year battle, Claudia was tragically taken from the family earlier this year.
“Mum has always been the centre of the family, and so her want to keep living life and travelling really gave strength to everyone in the family,” Julia says.
“She provided the light and laughter in our family, even throughout her toughest times.”
Doing a challenge to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer research was something that Julia had always thought about once her mum was diagnosed.
“I hadn’t planned to do it so soon, but after seeing the Western Sydney Half Ironman was on, I thought this was a perfect event to challenge myself,” she says.
“I have been interested in triathlons for a while, but this was harder than anything I had done before.”
A Half Ironman consists of a 1.9-kilometre swim and a 90km cycle followed by a 21.1km run – an incredible feat for any athlete.
“I remember mentioning it to Mum before she passed away. I will always remember how excited and honoured she felt,” Julia recalls.
“Seeing how underfunded and little awareness there is about ovarian cancer compared to others, despite being the deadliest female cancer, made me quite angry and I wanted to help.”
Ovarian cancer’s deadly nature is partly due to the fact that there is no early detection test, meaning that 75 per cent of cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage – stages three and four.
Combined with the aggressive nature of ovarian cancer, the five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with late-stage cancer is 25 per cent. This is lower than the five-year survival rate for all cancers in 1975.
After months of training in poor weather conditions, Julia said that the generosity shown by her friends, family, community, and people just wanting to support kept her motivated.
“I started the GoFundMe page in May, which definitely helped motivate and excite me and was always a good reminder along the way of why I was doing this and for who,” she said.
“To be honest, the actual day was much more of an emotional challenge, as it was just me and my thoughts, especially during the three-hour cycle.”
Julia has now raised a total of over $23,000 for ovarian cancer research, which will be split between the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation and the University of NSW (UNSW) Ovarian Research Team, which is currently working on developing an early detection test.
“When I first set the goal of $25,000, I did not think I would get so close to it and am so appreciative of everyone that donated,” she says.
“Doing this event without Mum was probably the hardest part, and not being able to see her face on the sideline as she always was, it hurt so much and made me feel very lonely.
“But having my family and friends including – my mum’s two best friends – really lifted me up when I felt like this.”