Frustration at seeing what their mother has had to go through was their inspiration. Now, Mariana and Mark Rudan have a chance to build a legacy in the fight against brain cancer.
The St George football personalities founded Kick it for Brain Cancer after their mother, Ana, was diagnosed with the brutal disease in September. Football Federation Australia have thrown their support behind the initiative with the A-League to hold its inaugural Kick it for Brain Cancer round this weekend.
Mariana, an acclaimed journalist and former panelist on SBS program The World Game, told the Leader her mother was actually one of the lucky ones. While she has lost her short-term memory, she also survived when it looked as though she had just weeks to live.
Chances of surviving brain cancer are as bleak as they were 30 years ago, with a devastatingly low five-year survival rate of just 20 per cent. But through increased funding and research, the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation hope to increase it to 50 per cent by 2023.
“Originally we thought she had dementia before we realised it was much worse,” Mariana said.
“We realised how frustrating it was. We spent seven or eight weeks at St George Hospital with mum every day. But we discovered how under researched and under funded brain cancer is in Australia.
“Mark and I continued to ask questions. Why do you have to send a biopsy to Boston? Why do we have to wait for results from Germany? And the answer was that we simply don’t have the resources in Australia.
“And that made us ask why. We’re a first world country. But brain cancer has never been a government priority. Breast cancer funding has come on leaps and bounds since the work of the McGrath Foundation. Now I think over 90 per cent of women survive because of things like early detection. We know the more money you can throw at it the better research and scientists you can attract.”
Mariana, whose brother Mark was an A-League championship winner with Sydney FC, said football was the ideal platform to help raise awareness for the cause given the sport’s huge junior participation numbers – and the fact brain cancer kills more children than any other disease in Australia.
“Ten years ago leukemia was the greatest killer among kids until the government funded it. We’ve started asking questions why brain cancer is not researched when it is the number one killer of children in Australia,” she said.
”The FFA have indicated this could become an annual thing. It’s amazing to get the top tier national competition to dedicate a round to it. We’re encouraging people to come to the games but importantly go online and leave $10 if they can.”
Donations made will be matched dollar for dollar by philanthropic organisations passionate about improving survival outcomes for people with brain cancer.
Supporters who attend A-League games this weekend can show their support by purchasing a Kick It For Brain Cancer bandana or contributing to bucket collections at each stadium.
Online donations can be made at kickitforbraincancer.com.au.