It is fair to say that Tracy Wilson has given a lot Bendigo.
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A competitor and a mentor on the sporting field, he’s been a fixture at athletics, football, netball and long distance running events for decades.
At work, he has spearheaded the roll out of Bendigo Bank community branches.Now, after battling an extremely rare form of cancer, ‘Willo’ says he has “one last shot”.
"The amount of goodwill toward Tracy Wilson just shows you what he has given to Bendigo over the years,” his mate of 25 years, Danny King said.
‘Kingy’ is one of the main organiser of an event next week which aims to help give his mate ‘Willo’ one last chance to beat an extremely rare form of cancer he has been battling for 15 months.
“For me that’s the main message of all this,” Mr Wilson said. “I just cant believe the overwhelming support of these guys – I love them for what they’ve done for me.
“How great is it that a mate from footy 25 years ago comes around and all these people from work who’ve I’ve known for 27 years, all the people from athletics and all those groups have come together…
“It really is overwhelming for me to think they’re the people that have been around for upwards of 30 years and to see them all still coming together.”
But, as Mr King said, the show of support for Mr Wilson is an indication of just how much he has given to all those groups over the decades. An employee of 27 years at the Bendigo Bank, Mr Wilson spearheaded the roll out of community branches.
“There’s 311 of them and I would have personally been involved in 130 of those,” he said.
Even as he battles the worst of the after effects of chemotherapy, Mr Wilson is hoping to recover enough to personally attend the opening of a new branch at Kyabram.
For decades he’s been a fixture on the athletics track – at first a competitor and later a coach and mentor. He was a player, captain and assistant coach at Marong Football Club and later threw his weight behind the Strathfieldsaye Football-Netball Club.
And his commitment was not only confined to Bendigo. After running 34 of 35 Surf ‘T’ Surf 10-kilometre run in Warrnambool, organisers this year decided to rename the medal the Tracy Wilson Medal.
“That was a real honour and a great excitement for the family,” he said.
Nor did he let his cancer prevent him from continuing his pilgrimage to the Surf Coast – where he took his first steps in the south-west on a family holiday almost 50 years ago.
“It was a real highlight of the year, it was great to be able to get around with all my family, we were able to hire a gopher and do the 10 kilometre course down there, which I’ve done so many times before.”
Mr King said he was hoping those years of commitment and that amount of goodwill to Mr Wilson would translate to a big turn out for next Friday’s fundraiser.
“You’d hope it would be more than a fair showing with the amount of work he’s done for this community.”
Tracy Wilson said he hoped to have recovered from chemotherapy later this month to be able to undergo treatment he described as his “last shot” to beat a rare form of cancer with which he has battled for 15 months.
“It's probably about buying time at this point... but it could be buying time until they can come along with something – you never know, it changes every day,” Mr Wilson said.
His last chance is an immunotherapy trial. Also called biologic therapy, it is a type of treatment which aims to boost the body's natural defenses by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, stopping cancer from spreading to other parts of the body and helping the immune system work better at destroying cancer cells.
The immunotherapy is part of a global trial being undertaken at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in conjunction with the Toronto Hospital Canada.
It is an option which Mr Wilson – a lifelong fitness fanatic and competitor – has wanted to pursue for sometime.
But Mr Wilson has been held back by the rarity of his cancer – which is so rare he is the only recorded case of it in Australia.
“Unfortunately due to my rare type of cancer, they said they won’t put me on the immunotherapy trial… which you can understand really, because I'm a one-off, if it does work for me that doesn’t mean it will work for anyone else.
“So I'm in a bit of a rock and a hard place.
“But they’ve said to me all along that if I could self fund, they would come part of the way with funding.”
Which is where ‘Walk for Willo’ comes into the picture.
The immunotherapy trial is “very expensive,” and Mr Wilson has a young family of three daughters to support through school and university.
As Strathfieldsaye Football Netball Club president Glen Cowling recently wrote to Strath Storm supporters:
“We all know that Tracy will give it everything he’s got, but he needs our support so he can.
“He is positive and excited to have this chance. In his words ‘rapt to be at the starting line and ready for whatever they can dish up – bring it on!’”
The ‘Walk for Willo’ fundraiser will be held next Friday, March 18, at Rosalind Park from 5pm to 8pm.
Tracy Wilson said he hoped to “get down there and see some great familiar faces”.
“I certainly intend to get down there and enjoy the afternoon,” he said.
Five community groups came together to organise the fundraiser: Strathfieldsaye Football Netball Club, Marong Football Netball Club, Bendigo Little Athletics, Bendigo Bank and Fit Republic.
The cost is $50 for a family and $20 for an adult – with funds raised going towards Tracy Wilson’s immunotherapy treatment.
Activities include egg and spoon races, sack races, tug of war, footy handball and live music. Those who can’t make it in person can donate via a Bendigo Bank branch or Paypal with a credit card.
To do so, contact any of the community groups mentioned above or email Mark Holden via mark@sandhurstair.com.au or Peter Adams on adams.peter@bssc.edu.au.
