Local News
David Duff takes on the Tour de Cure Story & photo Eve Jeffery
Every 29 seconds someone in the world will hear the words, ‘I am sorry, you have cancer’. Every single day next week, 300 Australians hear the same thing – and the week after and the week after that. The sadder truth is that 60 per cent of all cancers are preventable. A lone cyclist will leave Mullumbimby on Sunday May 2 on a personal mission to do his part towards finding a cure for cancer. ‘I have committed to cycle about 600km starting in Mullumbimby on May 2,’ says David Duff, who is the manager of the the Mullumbimby Bridglands Homemakers furniture and bedding store and its secondhand division. ‘I will be riding a gruelling circuit through Uki, Kyogle, Woodenbong, Killarney, Warwick, Stanthorpe, Tenterfield, Casino, Lismore, Ballina, Byron Bay and back to Mullumbimby to raise money for cancer research.’ David is completing his ride in support of the the Austral-
ian ‘Tour de Cure’ which this year rides from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast. David has set himself a fundraising goal of $20,000 which he plans to present to the Tour de Cure cyclists when they come through Mullumbimby next month. ‘Cancer is a disease that affects us all,’ says David. ‘We all know someone who has suffered from the disease.’ David has himself lost two people to cancer – his father, who did not survive a three month battle
with pancreatic cancer, and a work colleague who became a friend. ‘Megan Keightly-Buttelman was taken by cancer at the age of 29. Megan was employed by Sealy Posturepedic Bedding as a sales account executive and our friendship grew from a strong business relationship. Her love of life, her smile and her work ethic continues with me daily. A lot of the Homemakers franchise stores fundraise for cancer in her honour.’
David says he has been getting in some training for the ride and has been cycling about 150 kilometres a week in preparation. He knows the 600kms is a big ask but says that the pain and muscle fatigue he will go through on the ride will be nothing compared to what cancer patients have to suffer. ‘By the end of 2010, cancer will be the number one killer in the world. It will kill more people on our planet than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined.’ This year Mark Berretta from the Channel 7 Sunrise program is undertaking the ride and will be presenting his morning sports reports while on the road. The Tour de Cure will arrive in Mullumbimby at about 10am on Friday May 14. David says riders will stop at the Bridglands Homemakers store for around an hour. For more information on how you can help David reach his $20,000 goal email him at: DavidDuff@retravision.com. au or visit the store on Burringbar Street.
Mark’s Quaddy finds a new gear in cycling Story & photo Victoria Cosford ing a foot to go into the spokes. of a tandem bicycle with pro- Third World in mind. There’s
At the recent official opening of the Fletcher Street Cottage for the homeless in Byron Bay, another small launch took place. Self-described ‘singer, songwriter, poet and inventor’ Mark Plummer presented to the crowd his two-bicycle invention called the Quaddy. Mark, 60, has Parkinson’s Disease. Originally from Melbourne, he came to Byron Bay about four years ago. ‘I found this the best place in Australia and decided to stay!’ he told The Echo. His idea for the Quaddy – essentially two identical bicycles clamped together with a tray-like apparatus in between – was inspired by an incident in which the surfboard held by a man riding a bicycle, a not uncommon sight in the town, somehow slipped, caus-
‘He lost three toes,’ Mark said. ‘So my thoughts were to find a solution.’ After endless discussions with an engineer friend, Ivar Reynolds from Mullumbimby, they came up with the concept
vision for surfboards – or, as no need to balance as it can’t Mark points out, for groceries. tip over. It’s ideal for disabled ‘There’s nothing like it in persons.’ the world,’ said Mark, who has researched via the internet. ‘We’re getting patents and copyright. We’ve even got the
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6AM 8AM Mark Plummer and Katie Thompson, Cottage Coordinator with the Salvation Army, test drive the Quaddy.
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The Byron Shire Echo April 13, 2010 5