Jo Rutherford, Steve Utting, and far right Kelly Utting, host a fun run in honour of Chris Hughson, second from right, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. 39768
By Tania Martin
CHRIS Hughson wanted to close his eyes and ignore his cancer diagnosis but friends and family wouldn’t let him.
The 35-year-old Sassafras man and former Monbulk Football Club coach still can’t believe how much support the local community has offered.
Close friend Kelly Utting held a fun run on Sunday in Chris’s honour and to raise cash for Multiple Sclerosis.
Despite pounding rain more than 300 hill people turned out for the run.
The ‘Run to the G’ raised more than $10,000. Ms Utting said it was amazing to see the support.
She ran the fun run in 2009 for MS as her uncle had died from the disease and had already planned to do it again when Chris received his diagnosis.
“As soon as we heard, we thought we would join the two causes together,” Ms Utting said.
She first came up with the idea for the fun run after her grandmother died.
“She had done a lot for MS and I wanted to something for the cause and I really enjoy running so I thought let’s just give it a try.”
Prior to his diagnosis Chris had been planning to take part in the run.
“I didn’t run last year and I had done an MS run earlier this year and was keen to do Kelly’s,” he said.
Chris said he still couldn’t believe the diagnosis.
“I had been tired and fatigued from exercising and my wife was concerned,” he said.
“I was in total shock and disbelief.”
In October, Chris was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukaemia which is very rare with two to three per cent of people being diagnosed.
But he said the prognosis was good.
Chris has now finished his chemotherapy and is now recovering.
He said the hardest part of his diagnosis was thinking about his family and their future.
“It really reaffirms what they mean to you,” Chris said.
“I just wanted to close my eyes an d for everything to get back to normal,” Chris said.
Chris had hoped to deal with his cancer without anyone knowing about it.
But he said the generosity and support from the community had been ‘mind-blowing’. At first Chris was embarrassed that the run had been named partly in his honour.
“Once I thought about it more it reaffirmed the strength of this community … everyone had been absolutely amazing and to see how many people came out today (Sunday) despite the rain just shows that strength.”
More than 300 people took part in the run despite the rain and helped raise more than $10,000 for MS Australia and Chris.
