When Mal was diagnosed with throat cancer, he and Alison were suddenly navigating treatment in Sydney, long separations from their children, and the financial strain of living far from home. With no active Can Assist branch on the Mid North Coast, their accommodation and medical expenses support came directly from our Sydney office – a lifeline they hadn’t even known existed.
It was Alison’s sister, a palliative care nurse in Glen Innes, who first told them about the Glen Innes Can Assist branch and the extraordinary practical help it provides to local families. Hearing how freely that support flowed in other regions made something very clear: their own community needed this too.
As fuel prices rise and travel becomes even harder for country patients, Mal and Alison know that families on the Mid North Coast are facing bigger barriers than ever. They also know that awareness often begins one household at a time. When a patient outside a branch area receives help – as they did – they become messengers. They share the name “Can Assist” in hospitals, waiting rooms, workplaces, and kitchens. And sometimes, that spark is exactly how new branches begin.
Now home and recovering, Mal and Alison are committed to helping reactivate a Mid North Coast branch – so no local family has to face cancer without a community beside them.
