Sometimes we’re lucky enough to meet someone who, in a very short space of time, can make you both feel like you have known them your whole life and that you wouldn’t know what to do without them. For us here at the McGrath Foundation that was Michelle Gooch.

The quintessential “spunky” 30 year old gal, Michelle came into our lives nearly two years ago now. We came to know her as an amazingly motivated Partner at the Accountancy firm BDO who, having experienced breast cancer in the previous two years, had worked with her colleagues to turn her adversity into an experience that not only sought to raise awareness of breast cancer among her work friends but also raised invaluable funds to help us continue our work in placing McGrath Breast Care Nurses across Australia.

Michelle was just 28 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. A very active person, she had what she thought was a netball injury that was effecting the nerves in her right arm and just wouldn’t go away. So when a visit to her GP, in desperation to try and find a solution, found a lump under her arm, down the right hand side of her breast, she was not only shocked but in her own words “felt so stupid”. She would often tell me that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t found it as, when the GP pointed it out, “it seemed so obvious” and I would always tell her there was no point in berating herself. It being what it was Michelle had wasted no time taking whatever course of action was required and so began her experience with breast cancer. So also began her passion to try and alert other younger women that it can happen to us all and, while it so hard with busy lives and societal beliefs, only we can truly know and look after our own bodies.

For us then that meant that Michelle, her family, and her friends not only did their own activities to support us but also then became instrumental in our first successful year with the pinking of the 3 mobile Cricket Test against South Africa here in Sydney in 2008. Michelle, and her husband Neil, were there among the best of them collecting money from the people at the match and her energy and enthusiasm was simply irresistible. From there her support for the Foundation just grew and this saw Michelle come to other matches, provide advice to the Board on governance issues, participate keenly in every event we ever had in Sydney, work with me and others to develop and implement new business procedures for the Foundation and ultimately saw her join our Foundation Family as our Company Secretary in July 2009.

More than any of that though, Michelle became a life long friend. Someone who was always there for a coffee when things seemed overwhelming, helped in selecting bathrooms tiles and planning children’s and husband’s birthdays, and who had her fabulous husband to drive us from functions whenever he came to collect her. Her text messages made us smile and cry, and her strength and stubbornness in facing it all was something we admired.

While it breaks my heart to write this now, our beautiful friend Michelle, passed away on 23^rd January this year and for us the world has become a little sadder. Today though, as we celebrate everything she was at her funeral, we wanted all of you to know of her and the indelible mark she has left not only on this Foundation but also in our lives and on our hearts.

Believing in my heart you can hear us Michelle, thank you. For everything you gave and were. While you are no longer here with us physically, you will never be further than our hearts, and I know that we will continue to hear your whispers, and yes even sometimes exasperated shouts, in our souls and I’m glad for that. Thank you for being such a sunny moment in our days and we’ll see you again “on the morrow”.

Written with love,

Kylea

Don’t shed tears because I have gone. Smile because we shared time together.

Don’t close your eyes and pray that I will come back. Please open your eyes and see all the fun we had together.

Don’t let your heart be empty because you can't see me. Let it be full of the memories and love we shared. 



Don’t turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday. Be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

Cherish the laughter, tears and memories we have together and let them live on.

You can cry and be sad but then open your eyes, smile, laugh lots, love and go on.

A reading for Michelle Sheana Gooch, April 1977 to January 2010