Queenslanders are being encouraged to get active by signing up for the Children’s Hospital Foundation’s annual 42k Your Way challenge, with registrations officially open from today.
Individuals or teams can choose to run, walk, or roll the distance of a marathon (42km) across the month of August.
The distance can be completed all on one day, over a week, or split between as many days they choose between 01 August and 31 August 2022, with fundraising commencing from the date of registration.
All participants can utilise their own personalised fundraising website, which allows them to share their progress with friends, tracks their training, and enables everyone to watch the fundraising tally grow.
In 2021, participants raised more than $175,000 for the Foundation, and it is hoped that this year’s challenge can surpass this goal as more Queenslanders come on board than ever before.
All funds raised through 42k Your Way will help sick and injured kids through providing patient and family support to kids in hospital, funding life-saving equipment, and giving kids and their families hope for a better future through ground-breaking medical research.
These funds are vital to kids like eleven-year-old Sofia, who lost her leg to osteosarcoma – a type of bone cancer.
Sofia was diagnosed with cancer after complaining of a sore knee and commenced treatment immediately.
Her treatment included an incredibly rare and complex surgery called a ‘rotationplasty’, which is a partial amputation of the leg, ankle and foot, and subsequent re-attachment of the healthy lower part of the leg, ankle, and foot to the remaining part of the femur, with the foot, rotated 180 degrees.
This surgery – which saved Sofia’s life and allowed her to live with a better quality of life than a routine amputation – was only possible thanks to a piece of state-of-the-art 3D surgical navigation equipment that was funded by Children’s Hospital Foundation donors and fundraisers.
Children’s Hospital Foundation CEO, Lyndsey Rice, said 42k Your Way gives people across Queensland an opportunity to get involved in making a difference for some of Queensland’s bravest community members.
“Sofia’s story is a testament to the power of fundraising and is just one story that showcases how much of a difference the community can truly make when they come together to support a great cause,” Ms Rice said.
“Without access to the 3D surgical navigation equipment, which was funded through generous community donations, Sofia would be facing a very different quality of life than she is today, and that’s a future no child should ever have to face.
“Together, we can help give sick and injured kids, just like Sofia, the best care, treatments, and outcomes, and give them the best possible hope for their future. We are talking about giving the best possible support to our bravest little Queenslanders, and I encourage all Queenslanders to go the distance for sick kids.”
You can register for 42k Your Way now at www.42kyourway.org.au/.
The difference that shapes their world
Through supporting the Children’s Hospital Foundation, you can improve childhoods and ensure all children and young people have access to treatment - sooner.
