This inspiring couple are still ‘fighting the good fight’ and are looking for a day when no child ever has to be robbed of their life by the ravages of cancer.

They are a formidable fundraising machine for research into children’s cancer, and even now, as they struggle with the fresh wounds of their grief, they are still giving to the cause.

Recently Sharon and Marcus Kirkwood were invited to by the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia to visit the new research facilities on the grounds of the University of NSW in Sydney.

The $100m plus facility houses a number of adult and children research centres with a total of more than 400 researchers, and is regarded as a leading world class facility in cancer research.

Mr Kirkwood said it was a great privilege to be shown such a wonderful facility, and admitted that it was a very emotional experience.

The couple proudly handed a cheque for $28,000 to the Children’s Cancer Institute research program that came straight from the pockets of the generous people of Singleton. (This brings the fundraising total to more than $400,000 since 1998).

Mr Kirkwood said he was overwhelmed and overawed by the generosity of the community, especially as they had not sought out any of the recent contributions that were donated.

The Kirkwoods lost their almost eighteen-year-old son Tom, who died on August 18 last year, after a prolonged battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Mr Kirkwood said that as cruel as cancer was to the sufferer, it also inflicted so much other pain and they were now living with the grief of losing their son.

“Grief is like death’s sister… it is hard to shake. It dominates your life,” he said.

But Mr Kirkwood said he lives in hope that one day the Children’s Cancer Institute mission ‘to save the lives of all children with cancer and eliminate their suffering’ will become a reality.

He said the visit to Sydney was very uplifting and that he and his wife remain hopeful that a cure will be found.

Sharon Kirkwood said they looked to a future when cancer will be a treatable thing for all patients.

“We don’t know how soon it will be,” she said.

“But survival rates have come up markedly, and I believe one day there will be a cure found.