Clem’s Story: Your Ticket Helps to Fuel Life-Saving Breast Cancer Research

"My kids are four and one. This can’t be happening.”

At just 35, Clem was a busy mum of two, returning to work and juggling life with young children. Then she found a lump. She wasn’t worried, she assumed it was a blocked milk duct. 

But it wasn’t nothing. It was aggressive HER2-positive breast cancer. And it had already spread.

"I remember thinking, this isn’t supposed to happen. What if this is the end?” Clem recalls. 

Instead of planning Christmas, Clem was preparing for the fight of her life. 

Her treatment at Mater was intense: six rounds of chemotherapy, a mastectomy, multiple lymph node removal, radiation and 12 months of targeted therapy. All while trying to be present for her children.

One of the hardest moments? Not being able to cuddle her kids when they were sick. A mother’s instinct—but off limits because of the risk to her immune system. 

What gave Clem hope was access to personalised, cutting-edge treatment at Mater—giving her the best possible chance to fight. 

That hope made possible by research. 

“Only a few decades ago, a diagnosis of HER2-positive breast cancer carried a much poorer prognosis,” says Dr Jodi Saunus. 

“But thanks to years of dedicated research, our doctors now have targeted therapies that can pinpoint and destroy these aggressive cancer cells with remarkable precision”. 

This progress is powered by you. 

Every Mater Cars for Cancer ticket helps fund research that has the potential to save lives—and families—just like Clem’s. 

It fuels innovation, accelerates breakthroughs, and could give more mums the chance to watch their kids grow up. Buy your ticket today. 

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