In the January of 2013, Victoria’s father passed away after a rigorous three year ordeal with cancer. This was not Victoria’s first experience of  cancer, having seen her mother face extreme hardship with cancer during Victoria’s youth and losing her grandmother to the illness shortly before. Victoria was in the early throws of grieving the loss of her father when, as a healthy, vibrant and energetic 29 year old, she was struck with her own cancer diagnosis. By the November of 2013, Victoria was fully hospitalised with a very aggressive cancer. CJ, her husband of not yet a year, Fiona, her mother, and Alex, Victoria’s brother, moved into the hospital room with her to form a united front in supporting her back to health, making do with one armchair and a single pop up bed. Despite showing extraordinary courage and determination, Victoria’s health rapidly declined. In an act of defiance, Victoria stated that she was going to overcome the disease and promised to go on to use her experiences to inspire and support others going through a similar ordeal. Tragically, in January 2014, Victoria was taken from her friends and family, short of a year after her father had passed. Her passing was felt by all that loved her and the loss impacted so greatly, so deeply, that her family knew they had to direct all of the love coming in for Victoria toward something positive, towards fulfilling her legacy. It was then they decided to keep her promise.

 

Having seen first hand just how many additional and critical struggles Victoria and other young women go through, the family knew that this was the first place they had to address. Thus, Victoria’s Promise was born. A charity dedicated to supporting young women through cancer, whilst striving to prevent people from getting cancer in the first place.