Article written by Vicki Monaghan, Team Blue Steel Captain
My darling and very much loved Ron was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in July 2015, and while we had always supported Movember, this was the year our Blue Steel Movember team was formed. A group of family and close friends who wanted to show their love and support for our beloved Ron and all our precious menfolk.
It broke our hearts when he very sadly passed away on the 30th June this year after fighting to stay with us with every ounce of grace, strength and courage he could muster. His beautiful smile stayed with him even during the toughest of times. He never once complained, and his fortitude will live on in us all - his family, his legacy.
Throughout the four years he valiantly ‘lived’ with prostate cancer, Ron was lovingly cared for and supported by our wonderful, thoughtful family and dear friends, and all while he continued to unfailingly show his love, care and support for all of us. Even when he was struggling terribly. He was so proud of our efforts and dedication to improving men’s health through our Movember campaign, and we will continue to honour him by helping ALL our dear men live longer, healthier and happier lives.
This year, to honour his memory and raise vital funds, a SHAVE FOR RON event was orchestrated by our cherished family. While some of our team obviously couldn’t grow Mo’s, they decided to shave off the hair they did have on their heads. The Mo Sistas who got on board were my two sisters, Susan and Joanne, and our daughter-in-law, Natasha, along with our son, Noah, and our son-in-law, Jamie, and another son, Ryan, shaved his head at the end of Movember to encourage a boost to his donations, and it did.
This idea was inspired by our dear Ron, who was not fazed by the side effect from chemotherapy that resulted in his hair loss. They felt that if he was so courageous in battling through the hair loss associated with his treatment, it was a small something they could do to honour the man we love and miss so very much. Especially when he had so much more to deal with.
The end product was definitely quite the change from their normal long locks, but I thought that they all looked brilliant. And it resulted in an incredible $44,000 raised for our Blue Steel team this year alone.
There still time to get those final donations in. Get behind the epic efforts of the Blue Steel Movember team and chuck them a donation: moteam.co/blue-steel
