He had just returned home when the phone rang.

“I literally had the front door key in my hand when I answered the phone,” says Dean.

“The surgeon said, ‘Dean, your back is fine, you don’t need more surgery. But you have secondary cancer everywhere mate. It’s in your pelvis. It’s something quite nasty. You need to go and get it looked at, quick.”

Soon after, Dean was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer.

I couldn’t quite process in my own mind that this was happening to me. I always thought this was an ‘old man’s’ disease, and here I was only 48 with it.

Dean endured countless tests and was eventually placed on a trial medication, which he remains on. Despite treatment, he suffers from chronic and debilitating pain, describing it as “a crushing bone pain that creeps through your body, like somebody going from toe to head with a steamroller.”

Dean and his wife Angie haven’t let the diagnosis dampen their spirit. In fact, it has spurred them, and a group of committed friends, on to raise money in support of prostate cancer research, by running marathons, organising food festivals and other fundraising events.

So far, the group have raised over $32,500, all of which has been directed to prostate cancer research and equipment to help men just like Dean. Most recently, their efforts helped purchase an incubator for prostate cancer researcher Associate Professor Luke Selth’s lab.

This essential piece of equipment replicates the environment in the human body to grow cancer cells and tissue. With adjustable conditions, it allows you to see how tumours react in different situations.

Associate Professor Selth was incredibly grateful for the much-needed equipment, which will be used for at least eight different prostate cancer research projects currently underway.

“This incubator will be used for everything we do, and with funding being so tight these days, people like Angie and Dean are so important to keep labs like ours going,” Associate Professor Selth said.

Associate Professor Selth has even joined the group’s running and fundraising events! “For men like Dean, diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, the prognosis is often poor,” says Associate Professor Selth.

“But despite this, and having a lot on their plate, Angie, Dean and their friends are always putting so much time and effort in to supporting our work.” 

“I want someone to find a cure for this,” says Angie. “I want Dean well and I want it gone. So, wherever I can raise some money, I will do it. That’s my contribution and my way of making some sense of it.”