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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-01 Daily Xml
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Matters of Interest

Cancer Council, Fundraising

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:21): In June, I met with a young man called Kylan Beech and his father, Mick. The family, originally from Barmera, has a remarkable story. Kylan, at 21, is the youngest of five siblings. Three of those are his older brothers, Jordan, Nick and Jono. On Kylan's 14th birthday, their mum, Tammy-Lee, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite her never smoking and having no noticeable symptoms, Tammy's cancer was so advanced when it was identified that she barely had an opportunity to fight. Within less than a year, she sadly passed away.

It was a terrible shock for Tammy to be diagnosed at such a late stage of illness. After hearing Kylan and Mick speak about their experience, it is clear that the short time frame from her diagnosis to her passing made losing Tammy much harder for her family. Out of the tragedy of her loss, Tammy's sons found an inspiring way to honour her memory. In 2019, the boys cycled 220 kilometres to raise funds for the Cancer Council. They rode from their hometown of Barmera to Adelaide in an event they called 220 for Tammy and they raised a fair amount of money.

But it left Kylan wondering: what if they went really big? So he came to his brothers with an idea. Over 14 days in October and November last year, the Beech brothers cycled 2,200 kilometres from the Gold Coast to Adelaide to raise more money for the Cancer Council. Their goal was to help make sure that fewer people in the future have to suffer the sudden loss that they did. They focused their fundraising efforts on supporting the early detection of cancer.

They did not make the journey alone. They had a six-person support crew in three cars that drove with them the whole way. During the ride, they were rerouted by flooding and hindered by injury, but they pressed on riding for many hours each day. They had strong support from the communities they rode through, often spending their evenings chatting to locals in the country pubs. They met many people whose lives had been touched by cancer and in just about every town they received donations. They said that the brief but heartfelt connections they formed with strangers in those moments were some of the best parts of the experience.

The boys rode into the Riverland to a hero's welcome. They finished that day at their mum's gravesite in Barmera. Family and friends joined them to raise a glass to Tammy as the inspiration for their ride. After a very draining couple of thousand kilometres, the last 220 to Adelaide were a breeze. The lads wrapped up their ride flanked by supporters at their last destination—the Cancer Council headquarters on Greenhill Road.

Between their 2019 and 2022 rides, the Beech brothers have raised over $100,000 for the early detection of cancer. As proud as they are of their effort, I can only imagine their mum would be even prouder of the fact that they have turned the tragedy of her passing into something so positive. Their dad, Mick, was in one of the support vehicles for the whole journey, but Mick also honours Tammy in his own way every day.

In late 2020, Mick made good on the couple's shared dream to open a cafe. Mick has made their dream not just a reality, but a huge success. The High Street Cafe at 4 High Street in Kensington won the bronze award for the best coffee shop in Australia at the 2022 National Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence. This is a family that does not do things by halves. I will leave you with Kylan's reflections:

I actually don't really care about the amount of money that we raised. It's great to raise a lot of money. But I just want to make a difference to at least one person, or one family. If everybody just tried to make a difference to at least one person in the world, we would be in such a better place.

Kylan is certainly doing his part to get us to that better place. I congratulate the whole Beech family and all those who helped them achieve something extraordinary in honour of Tammy.

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