The Overly Excited Podcast

This episode is brought to you by Swash Clothing and Sugar Life.

Welcome to the overly excited podcast hosted by Jack Watts and Dale

Sidebottom. Two friends with a passion for life, learning And all

things that get them jumping out of their seats.

Alright, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. We're all dressed up today. I'll tell you

what. We're excited. It is episode number 49 of the

overly excited podcast. My name is Dal Sower now. I'm joined by Jack

Watts in Bondi. How are you, great man? Going very well, mate.

Very excited for this one today. We've got a special woman coming on board.

We do. Now I mate, before I get into Liz, I must admit, Liz, the

one thing I just love about you've described

yourself as a world mover. Now for me, that is I think that is brilliant.

I can't wait to dive into that a little bit more. You're a founder CEO

of the Conodores Foundation, but more importantly, you're a superstar human that gives back

to the the world

and you're a OAM. I think that's the first one we've had on the podcast.

How bloody exciting. Liz Dawes, welcome to the podcast.

Oh, well, thank you for having me, guys. What a treat.

Now So good. Now, Liz, we always,

start our podcast. What gets you bubbling with

excitement, jumping out of your seat? And I'm gonna jump in and before

you can't say golf. Okay? Because I know that's exactly I

know we already talked and you're gonna say golf. Besides golf,

because I know that lights you up, what gets you excited jumping out of your

seat? Just can't wait for more. Well,

can I say Connor's run? Yes. The whole and and

literally, it's 12 months of planning, but what I I really

love is we live in the Bayside suburbs in Sandringham.

I'm always up and down, you know, Beach Road. And

every time I'm looking at somebody wearing a t shirt, wearing the

cap, and I'd say 80, 90% of the time

now, I'll I'll cite somebody. And that just that just

makes me so excited that we've created something that people love to

have with them all year long. Now give it

give us the story, Liz, because obviously I've known you for a number number of

years. You're an amazing woman. I I describe you as a

force of nature. That's how I see you. You are

you are the most positive energetic person. I mean, you just

suit the overly excited podcast to a tee because you're

one of us. But obviously, it's

through, you know, huge adversity that you've created this

incredible foundation. So give us the story and, and let

the listeners know, you know, what you've created. Okay. Well, in in

a nutshell, we're obviously an American family. You can hear from my

accent. We moved here as a family, all

3. Connor was the eldest of 3, brother Nick, sister Hannah.

When Connor was 5 in 2000,

we moved here. We had a a small stint in New Zealand,

settled in Brighton, lovely suburb, And we settled

in, and we loved it. Like, people who moved to Melbourne, you know, just embrace

all that Melbourne has to offer. Our kids grew up, Connor and

his brother at Brighton Grammar, sister at Furbank. Everything going

along, you know, really well. We are an American family, so now

Connor's getting a bit older. Love rowing at Brighton Grammar,

looking at US colleges, universities to apply

to. So all that's happening is in year 11, but then other

things were also happening. He was a really, really bright kid.

So he was doing BCE. All of a sudden, he was doing legal

studies. His memory was slipping. He was doing Latin.

Couldn't really keep up. He was doing, you know, the highest

math. All the things that had a year before been

quite easy, and he was, you know, cruising along.

All of a sudden, things were happening. He would say, like, my eyes feel

funny. For some reason, I can't hold on to my pencil, my

pen. He was rowing for Brighton grammar, single sculling, falling

in. All these attributes,

headache, tired, all these sort of symptoms, in

retrospect, seem really obvious. But at the time, we were mystified.

GP, back, didn't have a fever, didn't have an infection.

Anyway, sadly, on one very fateful day in

early December of 2011, we took him to an eye doctor

who saw that, yes, there was a big mass in his brain, and

that led to a very devastating diagnosis of brain

cancer. Connor had surgery, radiation,

chemotherapy, tons of rehab. Sadly, a year

and a half later, he passed. But

I felt really strongly that that couldn't be the end of Connor's story.

He was always a bigger than life kid. He was born at £9, 9

ounces. I don't know how that equates to what the big

kid. It's BB. He was a big baby. And he was sort

of 6.3 by the time he was 16, 17 years old.

But he was a gentle giant as well, had a great sense of humor,

sort of that intellectual sense of humor. Didn't care if he did well in

school, which drove me crazy, but he didn't seem to mind.

But his friends loved him as you know? And so we I just thought, how

can all this great mind and

this great kid this can't be the end of

his story. And once when he was

just 2 months before he was diagnosed, he very uncharacteristically

put away Call of Duty, which he was obsessed with, got up off the

couch in our home in Sandringham, and ran to the boat sheds

in the city training for rowing because he was trying to make the

first 8. Obviously, you know, brain cancer

had other plans for Connor. But literally days after he

passed, a teacher was here visiting, chatting with our son,

Nick, and said, you have to do something. And I

was, you know, sort of obviously in the midst of

grief and really couldn't even think of how am I

going to go on and how can I make purpose, but he said, you

need to do something? And Nick just chimed in. Oh, we should do that

training run that Connor did once. Mhmm. Aided running,

but ran once a long way. And that was the genesis.

That was the inspiration and gave me a really

sort of something to focus on to

help me through a really dark time and help our family as

much as they wanted to engage. And I am always

up for a challenge and had no idea how to do an event.

No idea, but lots of people offering to help

and, people engaged. And I think because

Connor wasn't overly competitive, our slogan is more fun than

run. Jack's done it many, many times. Scott and I also be an

American, my husband, Scott, I kept saying to

him, I want the water stops to feel like an American Super Bowl.

And for any of your listeners, it it may not be as relevant here, but

the commercials are huge, Super Bowl commercials.

And after the Super Bowl, apart from the halftime show, this is what people

talk about. Oh my gosh. Did you see? Did you watch? So I really wanted

that to be as people were leaving the event talking about

the fun on the run, which now we've got 25 to

30 entertainment acts along the way. So we really like it

to be like a mini festival, and then that all sort of culminates at the

finish with lots of activity and lots of fun going on

there as well. Yeah. It it really is such an amazing

event, and I think that's it's the feeling you get

from from, being involved. You know? It's,

it's sort of unlike anything I've really done before because everyone is

there for such a beautiful cause. And so you sort of feel

like you're in this community where you don't know everyone. You don't

know, you know, it's not as if you know everyone personally, but you're all so

connected. And then, you know, the stuff you have along the run is

so, you know, I find myself just running over to everyone, giving

them big hugs and and high fives and the the music

that's played and the acts and all this stuff that's going on

along during the run. And then you get to the end, and

it's just like the greatest feeling. I don't know. It's hard to explain, isn't

it? But, we call it a vibe you can't describe.

Yeah. That's that's right. So so it's it's I I

think I think so after the first Connors run-in 2013,

literally, we put it together a couple of counterparts in April.

We started selling tickets. I think it was late June

or early July by the time we figured out how to even sell a ticket

to get council approval through 3 different councils. They said, listen.

Don't have any more than that. We thought 500. Then all of a sudden,

we had a 1,000, and they said, oh, you better, you know, it was

probably enough. Now we're close to 5,000, so it's

really but it's kept you know, we don't close roads. It's on the

path. So we do we don't time. Everyone wants to tell

me about their training and how quickly they can get to the finish.

But, you know, we encourage people to walk, bring your dog if you want,

stroller now. Connor's friends are having babies. We've created a

much smaller distance at the finish. But I just remember one of

his friends came up to me after that first Connor's run, and

he said, I can't believe that everyone

the reason we're all here is so sad, but look

around. Everybody is so happy. And I

think that's a really telling lesson that sometimes we

can't control what happens, but you can

control a little bit how you respond to it. And by

creating something that feels good, you know,

everyone's together and we're raising money and we're trying to do something

positive. You know, we've got over 30, 40 families that are there. They've

either lost their child from brain cancer or their child's going through it. Now

they have big communities, and it's such a wonderful way for those

communities to feel like they can do something. Because often,

I think, as you know, when something really bad happens, you're like, well, I don't

know what to say. I don't know what to do. And so this is giving

that sort of, you know, something really great. Amazing.

It's, it's allowing it's allowing people that may

not have other people to talk about because, like, we wanna be empathetic

and things, but unless you've gone through that, Liz, like, we Jack and

myself, we we can be there, we can listen, but we've got no idea what

it's like to walk in your shoes, something like that. So when you connect everybody

together and give them a space, they find their own community that understand

each other. That in itself must be so rewarding.

And, like, each year, do you get like that I don't know. Does it

do you feel is it sad in a way, but happy? Is it like what

emotions? Is it like a roller coaster, the whole experience? Yeah. It's a bit a

bit of everything, but I'm getting now that the shirts are out, and so the

t shirts, and this is how little I know about

anything. So the 1st year, we have our originals. So that t

shirt, you know, is out and people still wear it, but

I go to a spinning class every Tuesday, have

forever ever ever. Anyway, the Tuesday after Connor's run, I

went, and there were 3 people in that class that I do

not know that were wearing their Connor's run t shirts. And it's

the first time, like, the penny drop. We had this whole

conversation about should it be a wicking material

for sport, if people are gonna be sweating, it's 18 k,

or do we just wear it like, you know, it's comfy. And, honestly, Jack can

attest to this. We decided to go for comfort. You know? If

you need your if you don't want to show sweat, wear something different. But if

you wanna feel comfortable out and about just for a walk or in

your house or people love to tell me how and where they wear the

t shirts. I'm like, oh, great. Sometimes you need much information,

but happy to. So every year now, we have a

different design, and it's been a bit of a collectible.

But then as the event's gone on, people are like, oh, every

year, a new shirt. And so this year, for the 1st year, we're we partner

with the T shirt recycling company. So it'll be interesting

how many people because people are like, oh, but I have my favorites and

whatnot. So, we'll see. But we are saying,

you know, listen. Obviously, it's part of the event is to have this new

shirt. We understand that, you know, environmentally,

etcetera. So it's great that this t shirt recycling company is coming

on to help us. That's fantastic. I actually

I love the, the fact that the sweat comes through, Liz, because

I know when I wear it to the gym, I haven't worked hard enough if

I'm leaving and it's there's no sweat on the teeth. Oh, I love that. I

love that. It's my it's my good little barometer. You know?

Now what? Sorry. You go, Jacko. You go, mate. You

go. So, obviously, I I love the whole thought about

it, Liz. And now, obviously, you're bringing

awareness to brain cancer because, like you said,

if you a lot of people that get it, it's pretty fatal and then how

do you deal with it? What's been the most rewarding thing

besides, like, what we spoke about before, creating a space for families

that have gone through it? What's the most rewarding thing that, you know, you get

to do year in, year out because you found a

purpose in a really sad situation, but you've made it a positive?

Yeah. Well, I will say so I I talk about the

fundraising, f u n, fundraising, as being

a lot of work. You know, there's lots of charities. There's lots of great causes.

I am very supportive of other this is

how causes raise money is through people like us,

communities getting engaged, etcetera. But every year starting over

from scratch, you know, it's hard work. But then the giving on the other

side is equally you would think, oh, how hard can that be? But

from the very beginning, I have a a a

history before all of this in you know, I was in

manufacturing, sales and marketing, and industry marketing, and I've

got a bit of a history, you know, experience

from my previous work life in in sort of just

understanding that every everything has an

industry. There's a podcast industry. There's a football

industry. There's a t shirt industry. You know? There is an

industry for everything. And so when I started this, I think one

of the things that have helped, which I didn't understand at the

time, is, 1, we're helping little kids,

often with families that are in all you know, the busiest

time of their lives with little kids, 2 parents working.

I was a little ahead of that. Connor was 17. He was a young adult,

but we made a conscious effort to help children. So my kids

the other Nick and Hannah were teenagers. I felt I had a bit

more time to invest, also, because of my

past experience, but not in this space.

So I felt like in a way that that's been a real

perk that I've come in sort of fresh with fresh

eyes. I can invent this. In essence, we can make this

whatever we want it to be. So I had a very

somebody told me early on back the race, not the horse. And

I say that a lot, but I thought it was really apt because there are

2 children's hospitals in Melbourne. There are 9 across Australia.

There's about 60, 70 in the US,

and and many, many across the world. Every most of those have a

research, some to different degrees. So what I'm most proud about is

we started our charity in the US as well. We

don't raise nearly as much money and awareness there, but what it's helped us

do is who are the industry groups helping

pediatric brain cancer? And finding out here in this kinda took me about 2

years to find the group that oversees all

clinical trials for kids with brain cancer. Once I found the

group, Anschug, they immediately became, like, really

important and really good friends. And one of the things we

did was to say, well, what isn't getting funded? What do you need? How

can we come together with like minded funders, collaborate as

funders, but also try to get the researchers to agree,

okay, we'll work on this. We'll work on this. You know, really,

it is it's quite a, obviously, complicated,

but also helping the researchers here find their partners

in the U. S. And globally to forge collaborations with,

again, trying to set some strategy for this sector. In the 1st couple

years, I was too afraid. I didn't know. Asking lots of questions. But

now I'm really proud that we've emerged as a leader,

because where brain cancer intersects kids

is a really subset of, obviously, brain cancer. We're

focusing on kids and the AYA, so 25 and

under, and also cancer, many types of children's cancer, but we're

really focused on the brain. And so we find partners, and we

come together. We make priorities. One of the things we did a

few years ago was do a trial

for, it's called genomic testing.

So we sort of learned a lot about that during COVID, but prior to that,

somebody explained it to me. Doctors did the diagnosis

2 d through a microscope. But now with

the human genome, they can extrapolate it so it's not

like 3 d. So we helped fund a 4 year trial,

partnered with a group in Germany. We've now made it part of

every patient's diagnosis, and it has changed

the treatment for 40% of kids diagnosed.

Wow. So, I mean, pretty ama and we've done tons of other great

stuff. But somebody said to me, if you did nothing else, you've

changed the life of every child diagnosed for

forever in Australia and New Zealand.

That's pretty special, isn't it? And then also, I guess, you know, the,

on top of all the fundraising for for research and

trials, you also support families, you know, in

such a special way, don't you, that are going through, you know, what you went

through. And I think some of the most touching things that I've seen,

you know, at at all your events, families and getting up

and telling their story and sort of explaining just how

much what you're doing has helped them. And that must be

like, I can't even imagine how that must feel for you. You obviously

get to know them pretty well and and you're sort of along the journey. But

to know that you've played such a big part in these people's lives that are

going through something so tough, can you explain sort of

any emotions that that and is it is it hard like I'm getting

teary well, like, today, there's this little girl, Georgia Brown. See,

I could start crying. It's it's almost it's weird. Like, when I

talk about Connor, I think I put that somewhere

that I can go forward with it, but it's seeing other families with

their small child. And I know what they're going through.

But today is an anniversary, 2 years that a little girl, Georgia Brown,

passed in Sydney, and their family has become massively

engaged. And they're a beautiful family, and they've had another little gorgeous daughter

since. But they just wanna celebrate Georgia every

day. I just so, yes, I mean, I feel

like when Connor was diagnosed, I was you know, we

were, like, shell shocked, afraid. I knew the news was

bad. I I didn't really try to look much, but just feeling

alone. You know, I'm really happy that we can be

here for families. One of the things, Connor loved music.

I mean, loved music of all descriptions, would drive to

symphony music, you know, went to a rapper concert,

like, few days before he was diagnosed, played saxophone and

piano. So after his surgery, he was

left with a lot of deficits. A friend suggested music

therapy, and he just loved it. It was

unreal. The Sarah came to our home, and

it was really a special time. And so after Connor passed, she

helped us. She ran that program for us for 11 years.

She's still involved. We've got somebody else now running it, but we're

helping. We've got a referral referral program with all nine

children's cancer hospitals, and I feel like music

brings so much joy and to have somebody come into the home

and be able to sing with the family. So of all the

things that I hear, people are always thanking, and we

just leave that. I don't reach out to those families. I mean, if they wanna

connect, they can. But that I just feel like that's just something

we wanna be able to give. And if that family wants to

reach out and engage, great. We've got a darling little boy, Hugh,

selling bookmarks, and he's adorable. I'll send you his video.

Because he received music therapy and he's surviving, so now he

wants to help and give back. So those are things that are,

like, really special. The

the power of giving, isn't it? When you create a space that, you know,

you help people out, and then the natural thing is they wanna help other people

out. And they're the communities they're the communities you wanna be a part of. And

that's why I'm excited to come to Connor's Run this year. So, Liz, if

people are listening, which they are because they're bloody good podcast, let's be

honest. They are the how can we sign up? Where can the

everyday punter sign up for Connor's Run this year because it's gonna

be brilliant. It's next Sunday, Saudi. I know.

That's what I mean. I know. So, and we've got we've got, you

know, almost 45100 already, so they better get their skates

on. But the 18 k is

open. There's spots open at the 8 AM from the county

gardens. The 18 k starts in Hampton, and this year, we've done a

3 our 3 little birds, which I'll tell you about with Bob Marley.

So we have a little 3 k loop from the finish for young

families, people with bad knees and hips. Sadly, I seem to

know them. They're all over the golf course. They don't wanna you know,

somehow they can walk golf, but they can't, you know, do a fun runner

walk. So connersrun.com. Just Google it,

and easy to register. Great to have as many

people involved. We also, as a result of COVID, for

2 years, we couldn't have an in person event in 2020

and 2021. And, you know, some people on our board were saying, oh, you

need to cancel it. And, again, this is sort of what I'm like. It's

it's sort of what it when you said, like, waving a red, you know,

red flag to a bull. You know, I'm the person that if

somebody says, oh, you can't do that. I don't know what you guys are like,

but I'm like, oh, really? Like me. Bring it on.

Yeah. Bring it on. So people are like, oh, you can't do it.

COVID cancel. And we realized we couldn't have, you know, a mass

participatory event. So the one day was gonna be a

struggle because we couldn't leave our little 3 k bubble, could we, or be with

more than 2 people. So we brainstormed, which we like doing

for brain cancer, and came up with the your

way any day version. And that means so

September is Children's Cancer Awareness Month. Who knew?

Very serendipitous that our event just happens to be in September as well.

So that now gives us a whole month to celebrate

Connor's run, supporting kids with brain cancer. So

you don't even have to be in Melbourne. You don't have to even

run. You can register, get the shirt,

put it on, do whatever you want. I don't mind.

And so that will be happening all throughout September.

Brilliant. That's outstanding. We'll get a we'll put a link

down in in in the notes. I'm sure, Sadi, you'll get that organized. And,

and it's a great event, so I highly recommend anyone out

there that, you know, wants to feel feel good and and do something for

a a good cause. Come on down. You've been well, I have to say

also, like, ambassadors. Again, when we started,

somebody said, who are your ambassadors? I'm like, what what's an I didn't

even know what it meant. I literally did not know what the word meant.

And at that stage, because of rowing, we had a lovely connection to James

Tompkins, who's the part of the Oreston Foursome, 6 time

Olympian. And then he'll tell you all yeah. He'll

tell you all about it. And he's he's fantastic.

And so, you know, he he was easy to

ask. That year, we had Olivia, Wells, who

was at the time, miss Universe Australia, and she was in her

sash at the finish giving sweaty, you know, hugs to all these sweaty

kids. Anyway, she has since gone on. She is

now a doctor studying pediatric

oncology. She is going to be a children's

cancer doctor. Wow. Totally inspired from her

relationship with us. We were able to help her with some internships. I

just love that story. It's so She was incredible

at the, at the launch. She was so impressive. Oh my

goodness. I fell in love, to be honest. I mean, I

mean, really, really I mean, everybody else talks is like, oh god.

Anyway, really great. And with the rowing, because Connor

obviously wanted rowing, and we tried to sort of just, like, who might

help us? Oh, Connor rode maybe rowing. A few years

after he was diagnosed, a young girl named Jeanne Mitchell was diagnosed

with brain cancer. She went to school,

wrote for them, went through really a couple of

terrible, horrible years. But through the testing that

we were able to able to help her give, the the type of tumor she

had, She knew her prognosis was gonna be okay. When

she bounced back, she rode for Australia in the Olympics this

year in the end. Pretty amazing. So

she'll be there. She's running the 18 k, Jack. You'll see her

at the start line. And then we've got a whole if you haven't had enough

fitness, you can we've got a whole rowing sort of erg setup so you

can row and get engaged with that, and we'll have a

bunch of rowing people there. Well

I love it. I love it. Brilliant. That's, that's brilliant. We have

links, episode number 49. So people, if you are listening, go on there.

You'll be able to check it out. I think one of the things I'm really

curious about, Liz, is a lot of time with, you know, trauma or when people

have suffered loss and things like that. Is there something you wish people would

ask you more that they don't because they they don't

wanna say the wrong thing, or they don't wanna upset you, or, is there something

you wish people would be more forth forthright with and

feel confident to to do it? Well, a

couple things. 1 and then and then I do say

grieving is like a piece of string. Everybody

grieves differently. Every situation's different. You know, we

had 16 months of Connor. We were with him on the day he passed.

He was never alone. You know, it wasn't anyone I used it wasn't

anyone else's fault. It

yeah. So, I mean, I I'm I'm I'm very careful because there is a

lot of different situations that people go through.

But for us, like, that was one of the

things, you know, I said in the beginning about I just couldn't believe

this was the end of Connor's story. Like, I wanted to hear

and see his name, and I'm really cognizant of that with other

families. And when we they raise money for us, we donate in that

child's name. We make sure that child's photo is front and

center. So I think to not be

afraid to say the person's name.

You know, some of the things that aren't helpful are I don't know what

to say. Well, me either. So

so sometimes people don't know they're doing it, but they're almost

burdening you with their grief. Like, oh, I don't

know what to do. I don't know how to you know? So I think, by

and large, people are pretty wonderful. I think Australians

are actually really good in terms of being

sensitive, trying to say and do the right thing. I mean, there's always gonna be

outliers, but then again, it's sort of an uncomfortable

situation. I know in the beginning, maybe 1st

year, I really did not go to the grocery store.

Scott went. Because I I knew when people saw me,

they wouldn't know what to say and they'd be uncomfortable to see me. And

that's sad too. It's sad that you think, oh god. Now I'm

a reminder of something sad.

I will also say that when Connor was diagnosed,

you know, he was going into year 12, and you think about your year 12,

it is so many major milestones. You know, BCE,

formals, driving license,

dating, going out independently. You know, all

this stuff's happening, and that was all snatched from him.

And I I always reflect that I was

starting to feel, you know, a little like, oh, god.

You know? I don't wanna say jealous, but I was feeling envious of

his friends. They were living their lives. Their mothers, many very good

friends, were trying to be sensitive about it. And I

said to Scott, I I I don't like how my husband again. I

don't like how I'm feeling, and Scott goes, Liz, it's not it's not their

fault. Like, this is they're already feeling bad. And

and that was so good for me to hear that because

I needed to reframe. I talk about that. I needed to just sort of

reframe and go, if I am not comfortable with

Connor's friends, if I can't be happy for them,

then I will lose them. They will be uncomfortable with us.

And so I know, again, that's not easy, but you have to

kind of think doctors do. Like, the doctors would say thank you

for being so understanding. Like, you know, sometimes you shoot

the messenger. You know? It's not the doc the doctor hasn't created

brain cancer, and it is frustrating that more can't be done. But, you

know, that's why we're here trying to make the science better. So I don't know

if that's helpful, but I just you've got you know,

I it's like going forward with it. I I am not

I like to be happy. I like to have fun. I like to

and and I know, and I think of this almost every day. I

think of Connor and I think of him. If we were moping around,

he would be so annoyed. And if we were in our best

life, he would be like, what is wrong with you? Get

going. Yeah. So that helps too. You

know? You just kinda have to think about it in different ways.

All those emotions, you know, I think it's, it's so

natural to feel, you know, and I love sort of how you said, you know,

there were certain things you were jealous or you've you know, I think we all

in life at some stage, we have these feelings and emotions

that come over us that we're not proud of and you're not you're not, you

know, it's not really doing any good for you. And I think exactly what you

said, it's how you how you respond to

them, you know. It's like we can sit there and feel sorry for ourselves that

we we're feeling them or we cannot let them affect us in a

negative way and deal with them and and work through

them to create a positive experience, I guess.

I have I have an example. So Connor would be 30.

His friends are, you know, starting to get

serious. Some are getting married. Some are even having babies.

And I thought this is again, you know, obviously,

that's hard because that could be Connor possibly getting

married or not. Who knows? But maybe. Anyway, but this is

how I responded. It's like, how can I do

something that makes them feel I don't know

that we're thinking so we have

and this is Kenzie, but we we created Connor's Run

onesies? So That's so cute.

And that's my little baby gift for any of the

RCD babies, our next gen. The

next gen. Just something, you know, that we can

do that hopefully and hopefully, that'll make people

feel part of it as well. Yep. Yep.

Absolutely. That's that's amazing. You know, I think, sitting

here so, Lisa, I've got 2 young boys myself,

and I'm just sitting here and hearing how

positive you are. I I don't know I was thinking about what I was

gonna ask tonight, and I actually don't know how I'd like, what would how I

would be if I went through, you know, what you've gone through. It

is so it's incredible to hear how positive

you are and how you've turned such a hard thing for your

family and your life into such a positive thing that's helping so

many. It's you're an incredible

human. And I I just wanted to say that because, you know, I found a

little bit hard even and this is a really selfish thing on my behalf that

thinking of, like, how would I don't even know where you'd start or what you

do and for you to turn it into what you have. I I I don't

know you, Liz. It's the first time I met you, but I'm bloody proud of

you because it's incredible what you've been able to do. Like, it really is.

Well, I'm I don't know. Every morning, I wake up, I think,

am I I like I have this saying, I love what I do, but I

hate why I'm doing it. I

this is weird. Like, life is weird. Like,

I I I swam competitively for 10 years. And when Connor

was rehabbing, I got him swimming. He couldn't

hardly move his waist like a like a k. He and I, that's something we

would do once or twice a week. And I'm I was thinking, did I

learn how to swim so I could be now helping my

son do this? And I think about all my

previous jobs, all my previous experience that

has made this seem, like, natural for

me. I I cannot explain it. The world is

very mysterious. But I think was I meant to have Connor

is this our story? And if it is, I'm

okay with it because I feel like I'm I'm doing him

proud. I'm giving myself, obviously, plenty

of purpose, and I do better like this. But,

yes, I'm positive. But I could I could actually cry and,

like, cry for about 20 minutes. You know what I mean? Like, so people

see me. I am I suppose I'm being

overly excited, overly emotional. Yeah.

But I I feel like, yes,

that is how I'm coping going forward. But I

there's still a lot of raw emotion. 11, 12 years

later, it's still it feels like it was yesterday. It's weird.

Yeah. Just because you are so strong and positive and you, you know, you're

out there doing amazing things, it doesn't mean you don't feel the

the hurt and the emotion and the pain and all of that too. So I

would give and I would I would I always think if Connor walked

through the door, I could just, like, collapse in a heap and

say, like, you

know? But, but I I do say to people,

Dale, in your in, like, how you're saying that. Like, don't imagine. You just can't

imagine bad things. I I I know. I Yeah. You know what I mean? Because

I have to say to that, I've got 2 kids.

And, you know, the and they were teenagers. And I'm like, oh my god. You

know, the drinking, the driving, the day you know? So I'm just like, do

I cover them in cotton wool? But I can't

you just I don't know. Life's I you just

you just have to kind of live and hope and do what

you can, and a lot of this is out of

our hands, I think. It it definitely is. And like you just said,

you a lot of things in life, you're not in control of the narrative, but

the ones you are, how you show up, what you take out of it. Exactly.

You know, the energy you wanna focus on, what you don't want to. You know,

like, it it but sometimes it's harder for other people with

things they're going through. So yeah, like, it it's not something you wanna think

about, but it's still also nice to acknowledge

someone doing such good things like yourself is when, you know,

you could have very easily gone the other way. Like and I'm sure a lot

of other people do, and and that's fine too. But, you know, you've

chosen and everybody has choices. It doesn't matter. Jack

had the choice to find the app on his phone to use

Zoom. Well done, Jack. Amazing. That's a great achievement. Liz, you turned

something into a massive positive that you didn't have to, but now you're helping

other people. I love that story and message. Well, thank

you. Thank you. And I'm I'm glad that I have it. I do have a

lot and I talk about energy as well, like, good

energy. And I feel like I do have a lot of energy, and

I hope it is good energy because I think bad energy

is a big distraction and kinda weighs people down. So you just

have to, you know, just, I don't know, minimize

that and just try to focus. And and I have to say,

I have things like I'm patient and impatient at the same time.

Like, I feel like somebody pulled me aside early on in this and said, you

know, brain cancer's, like, really complicated.

Like like, if you're gonna be in it, you're you're in it for life. You're

not gonna cure this in the next 5 years. I'm like, oh,

why not? Go ahead. Oh, it's getting small. So 11

years now. And I so I think, oh god. Am I even making a

difference? And then I think, well, if I wasn't here, I feel

like it's a wheel and you're trying to move that wheel. Am am I a

cog? And can I just help push that wheel? Because

you can see all the breakthroughs that are made in science.

And I will say any major breakthrough

of any of any size has come from grassroots

groups coming together. Not us in isolation, but us,

again, trying to be smarter, work with other funders, work with

other groups racing, work with other countries, work with the you know,

because but it's it's also being realistic. Like,

it's, you know, it's if you look at it in its enormity, it's

like, woah. It's, like, overwhelming and can be too much. Then I

just have to back away and go, that's okay. If

we can help one researcher learn one thing that's

gonna inform something. You know, it's like a building block sort of a

thing. Yep. Absolutely. Any little

bit helps, I think. And then it you know, I think what the beauty of

what you're doing is that you pull people along for the ride. You know?

Well, I'm glad people wanna come. I have to say that also that's

what I'm saying when I see people wearing the shirt, when people messaging

me saying, this is my favorite time of the year because

spring's starting. People are in their shirts. We like to

say, you know, congress run kicks off the season. You know? A week

later, it's the grand final footy. You know? But few weeks

later, it's the Melbourne Cup, and then it's Chris. You know what I so

Connor's run kicks it all off. Connor's run does.

Sunday, 15th September. I'm doing the 18.8,

and I'm a bit scared, to be honest. I haven't done a I

haven't done a lot of running. You don't you don't have to run the whole

thing, and just quietly, there is a tram. There is there is

a tram. No way.

He he will be doing the he will be doing the 8. I might do

the 9. I, I didn't know there was an 18. I was I was pretty

nervous at the 9, let alone an 18 list. So like you said, I I

was more thinking maybe the 3 k loop at the end for the the young

ones. How old are your kids, Dale?

1 and 3. Okay. Well, are you up for a 3

k little walk? Because so just our 3 little birds. So

Connor loved told you he loved music. He loved Bob Marley,

full stop. He had a thing about Jamaica, free and easy, whatever.

Is it Blade Runners? What was the movie from? What was

the movie? Jamaica Jamaica something. Cool

Runnings. Cool Runnings. You do, Jack. Well done. He loved that

movie. Yeah. So that's not good. Well done.

So he but he loved Bob Marley, and he loved that 3 little birds song.

So when he passed, we, of course, remember that because

he was always playing it for us. We we have it at the start of

every start. But the chorus is don't worry about a thing because every

little thing is gonna be okay. So now, you know, we

try to and we've got little birds on our logos, and there's a little bird

on the shirt. So that's our little bird. But for our little

3 k loop, we've got little because we are hoping lots of little kids.

So we've got a 3 little we've got for 1, 2, and 3 k,

a little bird. So you collect your little bird as a sticker

as you're sort of making your way around. Anyway Well, I might tell.

All that Fun. I'll bring I'll bring the boys along. They might cause a bit

of a havoc. They'll be up and about. Yeah. We love that. They'll have a

lot of birds already. They love animals, Liz. I'll tell you. So,

for anybody listening, I'll tell you what, come down. You can watch

Shaco run 18. No trams. He'll be absolute

absolutely annihilated. And everyone else, just come along and join in. I'll have

links, obviously, in the show notes, episode number 49. Liz, thank you so

much for your time. Thank you so much for being a bloody good human. The

world needs more of people like you because you are doing things

to uplift others and make a difference, and you really are making a difference.

And you just by your story today and showing up, it it helps so many

people. So, for myself and Jacko Well, can

I just say sorry, buddy? No. Don't. That's fine. Of you

for for wanting for inviting me. Thank you. And

just letting me tell the story. I mean, that helps too.

Hopefully, people listening may already know, but

have learned a bit more or maybe didn't know and not you know, and that

helps us. We're not you know, it's hard because we don't have a

fame we're we're not even from this country. Oh my gosh. Just imagine

if Connor were famous. Anyway, but so,

you know, we really do rely on our awesome

ambassadors and awesome, you know, having us

having me here to be able to talk and share the story. It's great. So

thank you. We love you, Liz. Love you so much. And and, we'll see you

next Sunday. Looking forward to it.