As a family we getting alongside Greg and taking part in Melanoma March Manly this year, to raise funds for Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) - who are taking care of Greg since his advanced melanoma recurred in April last year.

Melanoma March Manly involves a 4KM walk - where a group of us will walk alongside Greg to raise awareness of the dangers of melanoma and raise some funds to support a national melanoma research project - to help save lives.

Research and treatment has come a long way since Greg was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2004. Treatments at the time weren't the best and the median survival for advanced melanoma patients were 11 months before new therapies. We're grateful to God that Greg has survived for the past 14 years. But it has been worrying that Greg's melanoma has recurred and that he has been suffering from frequent occurrences of cellulitis - a complication from a compromised immune system.

While, there have been improvements in survival of patients with Stage IV melanoma, with one-year survival rates increasing from 25% with chemotherapy to now 75% with some treatments. Sadly not all patients are sharing this outcome (either due to side-effects from toxicity or lack of response/ or acquired resistance to treatments). Researchers at MIA are working towards the goal of zero deaths from melanoma, but they have many hurdles to overcome before reaching this goal.

I’d really appreciate it if you would support our fundraising efforts by making a secure donation to our team page here. A donation of $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford will go towards a national melanoma research project to save lives.

To show your support of Greg and to support research into melanoma, please click 'Donate' to make a secure online donation to our team now.

Or to Join our team:

'Register' for Melanoma March Manly, create your individual page, and join team: 'Marching for Greg' and ask your family and friends to donate to your page.

Thank you for your support!

For many, a melanoma diagnosis at just 23 would be considered a death sentence. For Greg, it meant he had a long battle ahead of him.

Clinical trials are extending the lives of some advanced melanoma patients and helping researchers close in on the goal of zero deaths from melanoma. Greg is one of those lucky patients, participating in a clinical trial after his advanced melanoma recurred.

Like many Australians, Greg was unaware that skin checks can mean the difference between life and death. He was originally diagnosed with melanoma in September 2004. Having noticed a lump about the size of a golf ball near his left hip bone Greg would learn, following its removal, it was a melanoma on a lymph node.

“I didn’t know what to feel at first. It wasn’t until a specialist mentioned the possibility of putting me on chemotherapy that I really realised what I was dealing with,” explains Greg.

After surgery to remove the tumours and lymph node, he undertook four weeks of radiation and a year of interferon. Greg thought he was in the clear. Disappointingly, five years later, melanoma was found again – this time in his lung. Surgery again left him free of melanoma, until April 2018 when he found lumps on his abdomen having been admitted to ICU with cellulitis a complication of a compromised immune system.

Greg was offered a place on another immunotherapy clinical trial in May 2018, becoming the youngest person on the trial. Treatment involved regular injections to shrink the tumours, followed by immunotherapy infusions every three weeks for about two years to prevent the melanoma from recurring.

“My hospital admission in July 2018 was on my birthday which was horrible. I missed out on seeing Sydney Symphony Orchestra play Star Wars,” says Greg.

In August 2018 – four months after starting the trial – Greg was told that he had no evidence of melanoma. 

After a 14 year battle with melanoma, things are looking good. Like many melanoma survivors, Greg is grateful for the clinical trials he was able to participate in. They allowed him to be around to MC his sister’s wedding and play the piano as she walked down the aisle. There was a time when this didn’t seem like it would be possible. 

Unfortunately, not all stories end as well as Greg’s, with one Australian dying from melanoma every five hours. “Research into melanoma led to the development of new treatments that have kept me alive for the past 14 years – even when the odds were against me,” explains Greg. “I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am to have a treatment that has worked for them. Not everyone survives.” 

Greg is hopeful that with funds for research and an increased awareness of melanoma, there will be more success stories like his every year.  “I want everyone to have the chance to be successfully treated,” adds Greg. To help the MIA achieve this goal, Greg is proudly supporting Melanoma March Manly in 2019 while he continues his current immunotherapy treatment.