As a professional ice hockey player for the Melbourne Mustangs, Steve was always up for a challenge but a shock diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 37 challenged him to his limits. When he was forced to “put his life on pause” during chemotherapy treatment, he found the experience was “1000 times harder” than he expected.
“It feels like you've got one of the worst hangovers you've ever had, as well as having the flu. Your whole muscles and joints and body aches. You’ve got a throbbing headache. Light hurts your eyes. It's just a very unpleasant, painful experience,” said Steve.
“When I'm playing hockey and I get hit, I know why I'm in pain. It was very frustrating for me having muscle and joint pain for no reason.”
Steve and his brother Andrew on the ice hockey rink.
Your generous support is giving hope for improved, gentler treatments for people like Steve, funding talented cancer researchers right here in Victoria who are discovering more about how cancers grow and adapt.
These discoveries can lead to better survival rates, but also to treatment journeys where patients endure fewer side effects, so that even through a cancer diagnosis, they can have a decent quality of life.
Such improvements would have meant the world to Steve who went through a gruelling six months of chemotherapy.
“There were plenty of times where I just wanted to say, ‘I can't do this. I don't want to do another treatment. I'm done’,” Steve shared.
“But there were definitely moments that I didn't want to miss, that I wanted to be there for that got me through my treatment.”
Now cancer-free, Steve is using his experience to speak frankly about his cancer journey, helping to raise awareness and support for cancer research that will deliver gentler treatments in the future. By enabling us to fund 17 promising new research projects in 2024, you’re playing a vital role in supporting this vision.
After working hard to get his fitness back, Steve had an emotional reunion with his team back on the ice in May 2024. Holding a fundraising match for Cancer Council Victoria’s work, his club honoured Steve’s journey by ensuring funds were there to support others diagnosed with cancer now and in the future.
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Melbourne Mustangs celebrating Steve’s return to the ice.
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