“Life can be awful and throw us challenges in an instant. I cannot change what has happened, but what I can change is how I deal with it and how I act in that moment.”

Kristy has always worked in the Healthcare setting and with oncology patients. Her personal journey began in October 2014 when her husband Geoff had a bleed in his brain. It was from one of the six metastatic brain tumours.

Geoff was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and immediately began radiotherapy and oral immunotherapy treatments. The treatment was effective for 12 months, and then in December 2015 more brain tumours were discovered. Geoff then began Keytruda, however he was one of the unlucky ones and immunotherapy did not work.

Geoff passed away in June 2016, 20 months after the initial diagnosis. He was only 46 and their daughters were five and seven.

“Geoff was the epitome of a ‘larger than life” person. Telling his story is a way of keeping him around us and honouring his legacy. Helping others in the melanoma journey is one of my key motivators, I am in the healthcare profession and this is just what I feel I want to do.
Showing my young girls that we can help change in the world, even a little bit, is another reason to sign up to the speaker’s hub. If we are going to get zero deaths from melanoma, they are the future leaders to ensure we meet this target.”

Kristy is pleased that Speakers’ Hub provides the opportunity to reach many, many people. When it comes to educating our children, we can change the way a whole generation looks after their skin.

Telling a personal story has the power to affect more change than just an education session on melanoma.

Kristy currently lives in Melbourne with her two lovely daughters. She is a CT Radiographer, and has branched out into Training, Education and Development in Healthcare. She has lived in Newcastle and Sydney where she worked in major city hospitals.