Support for Mark and Ali Beetham and their children

Few people know how tough the last five years have been for Mark, Ali, and their young children, since Mark was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in 2011, only four months after the birth of their first child, Lachlan. They have been quietly carrying on with life through numerous surgeries, chemo, small victories and subsequent setbacks and the immense joy of the birth of their daughter, Mia.

Since February they have had the gutting news that Mark's cancer is back and more aggressive than ever, and without further treatment his oncologist has said that he may have as little as three months to live. Because of previous surgeries last year they had further distressing news that the tumours are currently inoperable. However with new NanoKnife technology there is hope that further treatment may be possible.

Mark is about to start another round of chemo, and has been recommended by his oncologist to commence an unfunded drug called Avastin (at a cost of $30,000). It is hoped this will keep the tumours under control until the NanoKnife procedure can be performed.

Mark and Ali are now having to make decisions very few of us can comprehend, such as the fact that Mark does not want to leave Ali and his children with the burden of debt.

Mark and Ali, amongst the many of us who care for and love you, we want to take the opportunity to relieve you of some of the pressures and burdens, so that you can focus on yourselves and your little ones.

Our goal is to raise $45,000... for Mark and Ali to use as they see best, be it treatment, the opportunity to take some time off work and really cherish their precious time, a special family holiday, or even just to reduce their mortgage. Whatever works best for them. If we could get to the goal it would cover the 30,000 dollar cost of Avastin (recommended by their oncologist) and help with some of their day to day costs.