In April 2017, Emily Dyson lost her mum Gloria at the age of 58 to a six year battle with bowel cancer.
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Two years down the track the Vanguard Fitness gym member is trying to make a difference and raise funds for Bowel Cancer Australia and awareness.
Using Vanguard as her platform, Emily has been raising money for the month of June by doing burpees for every dollar donated to her 'Making a Difference every day hero' page and with the gym's help will host a Bootcamp for Bowel Cancer on Sunday, June 30.
"It's a cause really close to my heart. I really want to not only raise funds, but awareness to people if they notice any changes or signs of bowel cancer to just go to the doctor and get tested," she said.
She said she felt bowel cancer awareness wasn't as publicised as other cancer types and being the second largest cancer killer in Australia, Emily wanted to give people the chance to know the signs.
"Above 90 per cent of cases are treatable if they get caught early but only around 50 per cent of them do [get caught early], it's really important to just go to the doctor and get a check up," she said.
Emily said she was also doing the bootcamp in memory of her mother.
"My personal experience drives me to make a difference and I think my mum would be proud that people are talking about it [bowel cancer], I don't think she knew much about it so maybe if she did, she would've gone to the doctor earlier," she said.
So far Emily has raised $1192 and with her target being $2000, she believed she would blow it way over.
"We did a fundraiser last year and raised nearly $4000 and with the support we're getting with this one we'll smash our target in no time," she said.
She has also completed 871 burpees since last Monday [June 10] and has a long way to go.
"I'm just chipping away at them, lots of 50's, but at this rate I might have to start recruiting people to help me do the burpees," she said.
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The bootcamp will run from 10-11am at Vanguard Fitness with an entry fee of $10 and all funds raised will go towards Bowel Cancer Australia, according to Emily.
"The bootcamp will be all inclusive fitness levels, people of any age can attend and have a go to help raise money and everything is scalable so whatever fitness level you're at, even if you're just a beginner you can come along for a good cause," she said.
Emily said using Vanguard as a platform tied in well with the idea of health and fitness.
"It's important to be fit and healthy to try and have your best chance at preventing yourself from getting sick," she said.
Vanguard Fitness coach and Emily's partner, Matt Walker will run the event on the day and said anyone could come and have a go.
"Even if you don't want to participate in the bootcamp just come down, donate and watch," he said.
There will also be a coffee van and plenty of fun activities.
"We'll have one or two different workouts involving a warm up game which is a lot of fun and everyone can get involved," Matt said.
He also said the idea of a bootcamp may be daunting and relates to how people might feel about going to get tested for bowel cancer.
"I've had people say to me the hardest part was walking through the doors, the easy part was the boot camp. It's everyone's mental battle early on and maybe that's the same with the bowel cancer testing, it might be scary but it's better to just do it," he said.
To keep up with Emily's burpee journey follow the Vanguard Fitness Facebook page and to donate head to Emily's 'Making a Difference every day hero page'.
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