Barry Knowles from the Perth Hills will walk 950km by the end of this year in an effort to raise much needed funds for research into the asbestos related cancer mesothelioma. This is a major effort, as Mr Knowles is suffering from mesothelioma himself after a lifetime of handling asbestos working in the building industry. 350km of this will be added on when Mr Knowles joins a Walk for Awareness and Research for the Asbestos Disease Society of Australia next month.
The extra funding is much needed and welcomed as the number of people diagnosed with an asbestos related disease in Australia increased last year. These diseases included lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma. While Australia has some of the most skilled and enlightened asbestos researchers in the world, they are not receiving enough funding to maintain their extremely important work.
While there is mesothelioma treatment in Australia available, the disease still remains incurable and finding a prevention or cure is a huge challenge faced by modern medicine. Asbestos related diseases claim the lives of many Australian’s each year. Therefore finding treatment for mesothelioma in Australia is most important.
Mr Knowles, along with his daughter Jo, successfully raised $75,000 last year for asbestos research by walking from Kalgoorlie to Perth. This money is truly needed to help save lives as Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related diseases in the world.
