Community
23 September, 2023
Gritty teen has set goal
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD cancer warrior Tiana Gooding has pledged to take the 5km Bridge to Brisbane challenge to raise funds for Childhood Cancer Support (CCS) this October while in recovery from significant surgery.
After receiving major surgery to remove remaining tumour and a piece of bone from her pelvis, Ms Gooding, who lives at Mt Sheridan, is steadily working through her recovery, aiming to join the charity race Bridge to Brisbane on October 15 to raise funds that will go to support other children with cancer in the region through CCS services.
Diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2022, Ms Gooding joined the race to support the charity that has helped her family throughout treatment, providing a home away from home while in Brisbane.
Currently she’s in the top 20 fundraisers of Bridge to Brisbane with $1500 raised for CCS.
“I was diagnosed on March 10 last year, at the time I was doing about five days of dancing each week and I was very active,” she said. “I felt like a torn groin but it wasn’t. When we received the diagnosis we were rushed to Brisbane, I got lots of scans and IVF and I did 10 months of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation on my pelvis and more radiation on my lungs. We did some scans after I finished treatment and they found a tumour so I had a big surgery on June 30.
“I’m still recovering from that, but I hope that I can walk by October. If not, I’ll still do it on my crutches.”
Her mother Della Gooding said they wanted to give back to the charity that had supported them during the toughest time in their lives.
“We did Bridge to Brisbane last year and fundraised a little over $5000 and we were invited to participate this year,” Mrs Gooding said.
“We want to try and do everything we can to raise funds. Everything they did for us was amazing and being able to have a three-bedroom home for nearly year and a half, and being able to go to your own accommodation after treatment was great.”
Miss Gooding encouraged the Cairns community to support CCS.
To support visit https://bit.ly/48zAo4L
