Wayne’s Story

Due to his unusual type of cancer, Wayne had to spend 6 months away from home – 600kms away from home. Wayne was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2019. He had an operation to remove and replace his bladder with an artificial bladder, followed by 6 months of chemo – all in Melbourne. 

And due to being in Melbourne for so long, Wayne and his wife Roz quickly ran out of annual leave and sick leave, and were unable to work or get benefits. So, Wayne and Roz had financial stress on top of the cancer stress. 

“Without Can Assist, I don’t know where I would be today. Traveling for cancer diagnosis and treatment is expensive. It would have just been financially impossible”. Can Assist assisted Wayne with travel costs (he has travelled 18,000km so far) and accommodation costs in Melbourne (which is not a day trip away). 

Wayne and Roz, with their bike riding crew, held a fundraising bike ride for Can Assist in 2024 and are planning another one next year – Ride for Cancer. Cancer has also affected some of the other bike crew members “they reckon they wouldn’t be here now to tell their story, without Can Assist”. 

Unfortunately, Wayne is starting his cancer journey once again. During his five-year test on his bladder cancer (which was clear), a tumour on his lung has been identified. He has already done 5 trips to Melbourne in 3 months. Fortunately, Wayne and Roz’ philosophy is “to take one day at a time and we focus on the good. We don’t focus on the bad”.