A mother was forced to toss her three young children from a forth-storey window in a bid to save them from a fire.
Local bystanders came to the aid of the mother in Songtan, South Korea and her children when they saw the building the family was in had become engulfed in flames and held out blankets to catch a seven-month old baby, a two-year-old, a three-year-old and their mother as they fell.
Several US Air Defense personnel were visiting the area at the time and reportedly rushed to offer their assistance when they saw smoke and heard screaming, reports CNN.
Melanie Scott, of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, witnessed the incident and told told DVIDS she saw a “lady shimmying down the side of the building and realised there was a woman holding a baby out of the window several floors up”.
“The next thing I know we were both holding blankets to catch babies as a woman dropped them out of a window,” Ms Scott said.
Unbelievably the Nigerian mother, Precious Enyioko and her children survived the leap and the whole incident was caught on video.
“It was so difficult to drop my children,” Ms Enyioko told DVIDS.
“It was so dark in the room and the kids were coughing and crying. When I saw the people gathering with the blanket … I thanked my God.”
It was the ticket money couldn’t buy – the exclusive Met Gala after party might have hosted the likes of Anna Wintour, Taylor Swift and all of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, but tech mogul Elon Musk wasn’t cool enough to get in.
According to Page Six the man who is dubbed the ‘Real-life Tony Stark’ – worth an estimated $13 billion – was snubbed from the Top of the Standard party because he wasn’t on the list.
The CEO of Tesla – American automotive and energy storage company that designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars – and his model mother, Maye 68 were left standing on the wrong side of the velvet rope despite other party goers telling the people with the clip board they were making a big mistake.
“Everyone was shouting and trying to help, saying, ‘He’s Elon Musk!’ And they were just like, ‘We don’t care, he’s not on the list,’” a source told Page Six.
Ironically Apple, the company sponsoring the party, might be in the market to aquire Musk’s Tesla Motors, reports Page Six.
No word out of Musk’s camp about how his after party rejection went down.
I had a near death experience as a child and I’ve seen dead people ever since. At first it was confusing but over time it became a precious gift.
When I was seven years old I was crossing the road and a woman ran over me and everything went black.
I remember seeing an angel or a spirit surrounded by white light. She had big blue eyes and she just felt like love. The same love that you feel from a family member but tenfold.
“I want to stay here with you,” I told her, but she said I had to go back.
I was only in hospital for a few days with a fractured jaw and abrasions, but when I got home I started to see people in my bedroom. I was a little confused by it but they weren’t frightening for me, they were usually smiling at me and looking friendly.
It’s like they wanted to communicate how they felt since they left their physical bodies behind, so most of the time the spirits gave me feelings of peace, love and joy. I didn’t understand why it was happening to me, or that it was unusual because it just felt so beautiful to experience these feelings of tranquillity that they gave me.
I told my mum that people were coming into my room, and I tried to describe them to her. She didn’t really understand what was going on so she took me to counsellors and psychologists who told mum that I just had an overactive imagination and I would grow out of it.
But I didn’t.
We didn’t come from a church or religious background but I began drawing pictures of angels; whole collections of them. It took my mum time to believe what I was telling her, but she still saved all of the pictures for many years and I still have them now.
When I was at school I would get “messages” for the kids at school. They came to me like a thought popping into my mind that was specifically meant for one child or another and for a time I would pass the messages on. I became a bit of an outcast at school because the kids thought I was weird so I eventually learned to keep it a secret. I was very attuned to the spirit energies around me and sometimes they were too strong causing me to faint at school.
The messages, the fainting, it was all too strange for others so my school years were quite difficult.
I hid my ability to see spirits for years and at 18 I saw a television show about other people who had had near death experiences and then continued to see spirits so suddenly things started to make more sense to me. I decided to go to church to find some answers.
After a few months I finally got up the courage to speak to the pastor.
I explained to him that I saw people that had passed over and he was shocked. He told me that it wasn’t a good thing, and that it was evil, and I mustn’t communicate with them anymore. I was crushed.
In my late twenties I came across a spiritual church in The Blue Mountains. I walked into a room of mostly elderly ladies and when I told them that see spirits they were so loving and wonderful. It felt like I finally belonged, like I was coming home.
I decided to study palmistry and I discovered that when I held people’s hands information would just come through me like when I was a little girl.
I started doing readings for free at the church or on friends and I become much stronger and more sensitive to the messages. Now for the last 17 years I’ve been working fulltime as a psychic.
I do psychic stage shows where spirits come and I find their family member in the audience and pass their messages on. The spirits tell me all of the things that happened to them and sometimes it’s very tragic but I don’t really get emotional. I feel sad, of course, but I think if I felt too much of the sorrow or pain of the spirits I wouldn’t be able to continue.
I worked with a TV crew on a haunted house show and that was really the only times I was scared by the spirits. One time was in an orphanage where the children experienced terrible things and the other was in a haunted hotel and the spirit appeared while I was in the shower and he behaved in a lewd manner that was disturbing for me.
I am currently working with two families in order to find their murdered daughter’s bodies. I know they were killed in the 1970’s and I know by whom but finding the exact location is taking time.
I have written a book about my life experiences called Heaven on Earth and feel very blessed by this gift that I have.
The boss of the health clinic where celebrity Tim Robards works as a chiropractor is deleting extraordinary and unproven health claims from his website after The Weekly Online exposed concerns they were likely in breach of national law.
Nick Wood, founder and director of Health Space, told The Weekly Online he would remove or change any “incorrect” claims relating to infertility, babies and children and seek advice from the national health regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
“The website needs some work,” he said, after defending some of the content. “I wrote all the content for this a long time ago. The ‘helpful tips’ [section] I haven’t looked at for literally a decade.”
Earlier today, he said external copy writers had also worked on the company’s website a couple of years ago. “I haven’t read it word for word,” he said, “I’ve got better things to do. I delegate stuff. But I take full responsibility for it.”
In the past couple of months, AHPRA and the Chiropractic Board of Australia have issued repeated industry-wide warnings of possible prosecution over advertising claims that may be “false, misleading or deceptive or create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment”.
Wood said ex-Bachelor TV star Tim Robards – who was previously a co-owner of two Health Space clinics but now works as a chiropractor at one clinic in Sydney’s Potts Point – was not involved in treating any babies or children. “He has no say in the [running of] the clinic,” he says.
Among Health Space’s original health claims highlighted by The Weekly Online were that chiropractic care could treat infertility, benefit unborn babies during pregnancy and was appropriate for children with conditions like colic, allergies, bed-wetting and ADHD.
Shortly after Wood spoke to The Weekly Online today, some claims and material began to disappear from the “Mums and Bubs” helpful tips section of the Health Space website.
Describing Health Space as “industry leaders” with 15 clinics, Wood initially defended some of the material relating to infertility, babies and children on his website. However, on further questioning, he acknowledged a claim that chiropractic care could “treat infertility” was “incorrect”.
On suggesting chiropractic care for newborns, developmental milestones and childhood conditions like bedwetting, allergies and ADHD, he said, “We are not saying we can fix these things – but if you have got these things, take them in.”
While he acknowledged high-quality research supporting chiropractic care for health conditions aside from back pain was lacking, Wood said, “There are so many case studies where people go to the chiro and have amazing results.. Chiros do a lot more than click backs.”
When asked how chiropractic care might help children with colic, allergies, behavioural issues or ADHD, Wood said, “We don’t really know the science behind it” but it was worth giving it a go.
He said Health Space offered multiple integrative therapies alongside chiropractic services. Babies were most often brought in by parents because of sleeping, feeding and digestive complaints, he said.
Wood, a chiropractor and kinesiologist, said vaccination was not an issue Health Space got involved with, as it’s out of the company’s scope of practise.
He didn’t wish to comment on whether his own child would be vaccinated but said it was “a huge schedule of vaccination” in Australia.
Despite the ongoing drama, Beyonce, 34, knows that the happiness of her daughter, Blue Ivy, remains the most important thing. The singer shared this precious new snap with Blue on her website, beyonce.com
Mother’s Day is all about celebrating the hard work every mother puts in to raise, nurture and look after their child.
Every mum knows that parenthood involves a lot of juggling and it is no different for these celebrity mothers!
We take a look at the amazing celebrity mums that go through the same joys and struggles involved in being a mother!
Drew Barrymore is refreshingly honest about being a mum to Olive and Frankie:
“I think as a parent sometimes I feel very overwhelmed with all that there is. Two is even better than one. I can’t believe it!”
Can we take a moment to check out how adorable Drew Barrymore’s daughter Olive is!
We’re sure Zoe Foster Blake’s Mother’s Day will be full of giggles thanks to her hilarious husband, Hamish Blake, and adorable bub Sonny.
Radio star Jackie O and her mini-me daughter Kitty enjoy some precious mother-daughter time.
Victoria Beckham is a super mum to her brood!
Sandra Bullock with her darling boy, Louis. The star loves motherhood, “I am exactly where I want to be!” Last year the star welcomed a daughter into her family when she adopted a daughter called Laila. Watch Sandra talk about motherhood in the next slide. Gallery continues after the video!
Sofia Vergara was proud mama after her son, Manolo graduated from college. Future step-dad, Joe Manganiello was there joining in celebrations.
Reese Witherspoon with her darling daughter, Ava. The profound mum revealed “having kids made me clearer about who I was as a woman.”
Grammy Award-winner, Alicia Keys is mum to Egypt and Genesis Ali Dean revealed “Being a parent has made me more open, more connected to myself, more happy, and more creative!”
Describing her kids as “the best joy” Jessica Simpson is mum to her beautiful daughter, Maxwell and son Ace.
Beyonce with her darling Blue Ivy,”being a mother is my biggest ever role!”
Blue and Bey share a back-stage smooch ahead of the singer’s Formation world tour. Watch the cute duo in the next slide. Gallery continues after…
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Beyond and Blue Ivy super cute video
Shakira has two boys, Milan and Sasha. Motherhood helped the Latin superstar “savor the little moments.”
Britney Spears with her boys, Jayden and Sean. Keeping it real, the popstar admitted she sometimes feels like a “dull and invisible mum.”
Alyssa Milano with baby Elizabella.
Ellen Pompeo sharing a special moment with her daughter, Stella.
Jessica Alba enjoys the beach with Honor and Haven.
Katie Holmes with her only daughter, Suri Cruise. The two are the best of friends!
Katie says Suri’s generous spirit inspires her.
JLo can’t get enough of her twins, Max and Emme.
Jennifer Garner is mum to Violet, Seraphina and Samuel.
Actress Olivia Wilde is already the proud mum to son Otis and recently announced her second pregnancy.Watch Olivia talk about motherhood. Gallery continues after!
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Kim Kardashian jokes about with her daughter North.
“I love being a mum! It’s the most rewarding feeling. I really love every phase. Just the way my daughter laughs with me, all of the small things in life you appreciate,” the mother-of-two says.
Naomi Watts with her two kids, Samuel and Alexander.
This week, for the first time ever, the world was shown a very different, very beautiful side the Duchess of Cambridge.
The mother-of-two participated in her first ever magazine photoshoot as part of a collaboration between iconic fashion magazine British Vogue and the National Portrait Gallery.
The images were taken as part of the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition and will appear in the June issue of the publication, and just like everything the Duchess does, the world wants to know every detail.
An onlooker gazes up at the stunning portraits at the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Catherine had made it clear to the team working on the shoot that she wished for the images to reflect the rarely-seen aspects of her private life.
As, of course, Kate isn’t always donning designer coats and heels when she is running after her two little ones, she hoped the photos would channel the woman she is at home; a hands-on mother donning jeans and a tee.
The shoot took place in a picturesque area of the Norfolk countryside on a chilly morning in late January.
Catherine drove herself to the shoot in a Land Rover Defender (which can be seen in the background in one of the shots) as she and her lovely family live close by in a 10-bedroom house situated in Anmer Hall, Norfolk.
Upon arrival, she met with her crew for the day including the photographer that would take the inevitably iconic pictures.
The mother to George, two, and Charlotte, one, had requested that the Vogue commission was given to a British photographer “for whom this would be a new opportunity” and as a result, 35-year-old London-born photographer Josh Olins was chosen.
“This was the Duchess’s first sitting for a magazine and she was a joy to work with, a natural,” the talented shutterbug said in a press release. “I am incredibly grateful to Alexandra Shulman for placing her faith in me for such an important and historic assignment.”
Watch as Duchess Catherine reveals Prince George’s nickname for the Queen in the video player below! Post continues…
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Of course, everyone just really wants to know all about the outfits worn by the wife of Prince William.
Sources tell Hello! that Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers had accumulated about ten suitcases packed full of garments for The Duchess to choose from.
After she had rifled through the curated choices, she said to Lucina that she would happily wear “whatever she wanted.”
While we’re used to seeing Kate dolled up, the mother-of-two wanted to show off a more natural side.
For both the incredible cover and the black and white shot, Kate donned a $10,000 charcoal brown suede coat over the top of a Burberry shirt.
She topped the look off her signature smile and a wide brimmed hat from London vintage store Beyond Retro.
For her second outfit, Kate wore a simple black and red striped long-sleeve from French store Petit Bateau with navy trousers by Burberry.
The brunette beauty kept her makeup simple and understated with neutral browns used for eyeshadow, made strong by her defined eyebrows.
In a surprise to no one at all, Catherine let her waves down with her signature Chelsea blowdry, styled by her entrusted hairdresser Amanda Tucker who recently accompanied the royal pair on their trip to India and Bhutan.
A close look at the Duchess’ signature makeup look.
It seems as if this is one photogenic family! In an excerpt from her upcoming interview with Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Alexandra Shulman, Kate revealed that her two precious kids have no qualms about posing with their mum.
“From taking photographs of George and Charlotte, I have been struck by the wonderful lack of self-consciousness that you see in photographs of children, without the self-awareness that adults generally feel,” she said.
The stunning cover shoot was debuted just days before portraits of little Princess Charlotte were released.
Too cute! The loving mum captured the happy moment little Charlotte pushed her toy trolley around their green gardens.
The shots, which were taken by the 34-year-old herself, celebrated her little girl as she ticked over the day of her first year on earth.
In the past, Catherine has been dubbed a keen snapper having taken more than a few stunning shots of her little ones.
To celebrate her first daughter’s birth, the loving mother captured the adorable moment her eldest son George cradled his new baby sister in his arms before sharing the snaps with the world.
Prince William and Duchess Catherine are besotted by their two adorable children.
You only need to be online for approximately 2.35 minutes before a pop-up ad will appear somewhere on your screen telling you how to lose belly fat.
“If you eat this fruit every day you will lose belly fat.”
“Never eat these 4 foods and you will lose belly fat fast.”
“Take these pills harvested by rainbow unicorns reared on kale to have a flat belly in 10 minutes.”
Could it be true that we can eat something to give us the rippled stomach of our dreams? Not really, according to Georgie Rist from the Dieticians Association of Australia.
“Body weight is largely influenced by the balance between energy in versus energy out, but age, genetics and dietary composition may play a part,” she tells. “There is no quick fix nor one-size-fits-all when it comes to weight loss or losing belly fat.”
“Weight loss occurs across the body when following a weight loss nutritional and exercise plan, but there are some dietary and lifestyle approaches that may help enhance more abdominal fat loss such as including green tea (up to 6 cups), reducing sugar, eating smaller meals and more slowly, learning to breath correctly and practising mindfulness and stress management”
It’s not a great mystery that fresh fruit and vegetables and lean protein hold the key to weight control, so looking at what goes into our bodies is a good start.
“Excess energy, high sugar, refined carbohydrates, high saturated fat, excess alcohol and excess food can contribute to expanding waist lines and therefore abdominal fat,” tells Georgie.
“Additionally, poor gut health can contribute to weight gain and inflammation which can interfere with fat loss. An unhealthy gut can also cause bloating which may play a role in perceived high belly fat. High salt intake and stress can also cause bloating and expanding waistbands.”
Gut-health is obviously important for a flat tummy, but less obviously, so is our mental health. Many people don’t realise the effects that stress has on belly fat, and by reducing our stress levels we may be able to kick-start our road to Midriff City.
When your stress levels are high your body produces more of the hormone cortisol which makes your body resist weight loss. Stress makes your body think you’re in danger and you might starve, so you hang on to the calories you consume like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.
“Learn how to switch off and implement stress management strategies, such as laughing, giving back, meditation, yoga, floating, cooking, talking with a friend, writing or whatever you find relaxing to switch off your stress hormone, cortisol,” suggests Georgie.
“Stress triggers our fight or flight response and was useful when we were running from tigers in the wild but we aren’t doing that as much anymore. Cortisol can also be your enemy when raised long term and when coupled with an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, plays havoc on your health and waist line.”
So, we can’t diet to spot reduce our pouchy bellies so perhaps exercise is how to lose belly fat? Perhaps a million sit ups a day with the Turbo Ab-Blaster 3000?
“Sit ups will not reduce belly fat,” says trainer Felicity Aitken from Dynamic Health and Fitness whose 15 year fitness career has taught her the secret to taut tummies.
“Sit ups are actually bad for your back, as are planks. Women who have experienced abdominal split after pregnancy and childbirth can even find sit ups make their tummy rounder and make the separation more prominent.
“Functional training is much more beneficial for the core and therefore abdominals. Flipping tyres, reaching exercises, and sprints are all great for mid-section, but still they will train and tone your entire body and not just one area.”
Although we need to be mindful of our overall body fat because too much is a health risk, too little fat causes issues also.
“Women are supposed to have some belly, arm and hip fat as it helps to regulate the menstrual cycle,” says Felicity. “If you have too little body fat it can stop your period.
“Many people think more and more training is the key to weight loss, but rest and relaxation is just as important to allow the body to recover and bring our stress levels down.”
The bottom line – or the waistline as the case may be – is you cannot simply drop belly fat no matter what you do.
You cannot lose weight on one specific area of your body, however the good news is you can clean up your diet, boost your exercise regime and improve your overall health in order to improve and change your body shape.
The bad news is it takes effort and clicking on any of those sensational ads will not provide a short cut.
Just go to Bras Without Wires and enter code WDMothersDay16 to claim your 10% discount.
Did you know that 73% of us would rather wear a wire-free bra? But with so little options it’s often hard to make our wish a reality.
Enter inspirational cancer survivor Stephanie Devine, whose quest for a wire-free bra has resulted in a seriously inspirational product.
Stephanie’s motivation for Bras Without Wires came when she was looking for a soft, post-surgery wire-free bra for breast cancer. The Sydney-based CEO struggled to find anything suitable so took matters into her own hands and launched Bras Without Wires.
Bras Without Wires founder Stephanie Devine launched the company after she struggled to find any stylish wire-free bras following surgery.
The range offers stylish wire-free bras, up to 22 cup sizes, with all the support and none of the wire. What’s even better is the luxe factor with the garments crafted from dreamy lace, fabrics and trim and they’re always lined with Australian made organic cotton.
Speaking to the entrepreneur, it is clear Stephanie wanted to make a positive change not just for cancer survivors, but for every woman.
“Our customers aren’t just cancer survivors. In fact 90% of our clients are the ‘everywoman’ ranging from as young as 13 to 86,” she told Woman’s Day.
She went on to talk about one of her eldest customers, Enid, who at age 86 needed something supportive and Bras Without Wires was the perfect solution.
“At the end of the day, I’d like our bras to liberate women and their breasts!”
The range offers stylish wire-free bras, up to 22 cup sizes, with all the support and none of the wire.
So why not treat yourself or mum to a beautiful new bra this Mother’s Day?
It will make for the ultimate feel-good gift with Bras Without Wires donating $1 for every wire-free bra sold to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, to contribute to the research that will find a cure for breast cancer.
This article is sponsored by Bras Without Wires. To celebrate Mother’s Day, Woman’s Day Online has partnered with Bras Without Wires to offer a discount code to spoil your mum (or yourself!).
Woman’s Day Online readers will receive 10% off at online checkout when using the discount code – WDMothersDay16 – go to www.braswithoutwires.com to claim your discount.
Chatting to Marion Grasby is like catching up with an old friend; only this friend could whip you up a delicious Thai feast fit for a queen as opposed to oven nachos and frozen margaritas (not that there’s anything wrong with that that!).
Woman’s Day recently caught up with the Masterchef alum to talk all things food, family and babies, and as it turns out, this cook might soon have some mini-kitchen hands of her own!
“It’s been such a whirlwind since Masterchef six years ago. And as you get older as a woman you start to think about these things a lot more, so finger’s crossed, hopefully in the next few years!”
“Wouldn’t it be great if I could have five or six kids and get them all in there so I could have a bunch of kitchenhands!” the brunette beauty quipped.
Marion and her husband Tim Althaus married two years ago. The happy couple have plans to start a family together in the coming years.
The beloved Aussie cook knows that family is the most important ingredient in life.
As Mother’s Day approaches, the 33-year-old revealed how she plans to spoil her mum.
You might expect Marion, who works side-by-side with her mum, Noi, to cook up a big feast for the woman she looks up to most, but as it happens, the culinary duo are taking a rather “unconventional” route this year.
“This year I asked, ‘mum, what do you want to do for mother’s day’ and she replied that she’d like to go on a pub crawl! I’m not sure where she got that from… But although very unconventional, we’re going to a few pubs and having a few wines.”
Marion and her mum Noi are a powerhouse duo in the kitchen!
Growing up, it was Marion’s mother – also a trained chef- who inspired her to get her hands dirty in the kitchen.
Taught by the best, it wasn’t long before the passionate cook began to challenge her teacher; Masterchef style.
“I think when I was a teenager there was a bit of tension because she would want to cook one thing for dinner and I would want to cook another, and then dad would have to eat two dinners and very diplomatically describe both as being very wonderful,” she recalled with a laugh.
Now, Marion works alongside her beloved mum as the powerful duo grow her ever-expanding business of cook-at-home kits.
Her products made their way from Australian supermarket shelves, across the Atlantic to market aisles in America, and soon Marion’s Kitchen will be London bound.
The success of Marion’s cook-at-home kits have taken her to Bangkok, where she currently resides.
The talented cook remains friends with show’s judge, Matt Preston. The two enjoyed a delicious dinner in Bangkok just last month.
Fans will remember Marion’s joyous, can-do attitude, but her departure from the show as undoubtedly one of Masterchefs most heartbreaking eliminations.
The season two contestant went out with her rendition of the classic Thai sauce, Satay.
Sadly for her, the dish wasn’t bad in civilian terms, but as the competition was becoming more cut-throat, the then-27-year-old South Australian was eventually out-cooked after a judge described her dish as “claggy”.
“It’s all about balance, a bit of acidity and liquid would have changed that sauce completely,” he adds, explaining how much of a fine line there can be between a good dish and a bad one.
See the moment Marion was eliminated from the competition in the video player below! Post continues…
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The talented cook recalls that exact moment six years on from her devastating elimination.
Speaking of it now, she says that she wasn’t actually too disappointed since her journey had been so rewarding, but her mother however, seemed to have a bone to pick with the judges that sent her daughter home.
“Yes my mum was watching, and being my mum, of course, she decided to blame Gary and George. I think she was just more worried about how disappointed I would be,” she remembered.
Marion’s Instagram account is a colourful, culinary journey of her worldly travels.
Now, as the new season is beginning, a fresh batch of contestants will be put to the test on their culinary skills, innovation and creativity.
Marion, now a seasoned professional in the culinary world, has kindly shared her number one tip for those lucky competitors getting ready to battle it out in the kitchen.
“The biggest thing that Masterchef offers you is a whole world of access to chefs, training, kitchens, and everything you might not be able to do in real life. Just learn as much as possible, and meet and impress as many people as you can!”
Like 130,000 other women around Australia, 47-year-old Louise Davidson will be lacing up her runners on Sunday 8th May and taking part in the 19th Mother’s Day Classic.
Many of the runners and walkers taking part will have special reasons for joining in. Breast Cancer affects as many as one in eight women in Australia, so it has touched most of us in some way.
But, as the founder of the Mother’s Day Classic, it’s probably fair to say that the event means more to Davidson that anyone else.
Davidson became well acquainted with breast cancer when she lost her mother to the disease in 1994.
“My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 50, and she died at 52. I was her main carer and supporter during her illness.”
“Aside from my personal grief, it seemed quite shocking to me that someone could die so young from this disease,” Davidson recalls.
After losing her mother, Davidson became acutely aware just how many young women were dying from breast cancer.
This was made all the more poignant because of her role as a professional in the superannuation industry – women were working hard to save for their retirement, but not living past retirement age.
Elsewhere in the world, other women were having similar conversations and fundraising events in aid of breast cancer research were starting to become more prominent. Serendipitously, a colleague and mentor of Davidson, Mavis Robertson, came across one such event while on holiday in New York.
Back in Australia, Robertson shared the story with Davidson and, inspired by a previous conversations about breast cancer, the pair started to hatch a plan to hold a similar event in Australia.
“We went into it somewhat naïvely. I’d never been to a fun run – I don’t think any of us had,” Davidson laughs.
The first events held in Sydney and Melbourne in 1998, were resounding successes. There were in excess of 2,500 people at the Melbourne event alone.
“I stood outside the tent [at the Melbourne event] watching people doing warm up aerobics and was overwhelmed by the number of people that had showed up to take part.
“Particularly, knowing that so many people were taking part in memory of a loved one,” recalls Davison.
“I remember thinking that my mum would have been very proud. She was quite an activist herself.”
While Davidson spent her own childhood presenting her beloved mother with burnt toast and tea on Mother’s Day, her own three daughters have grown up thinking that Mother’s Day and the Mother’s Day Classic are one and the same.
“They don’t know anything about Mothers Day apart from the Mother’s Day Classic. When they were little they used to write ‘Happy Mother’s Day Classic’ on the cards they made at pre-school,” laughs Davidson.
Louise Davidson with Mavis Robertson
There is no time for a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed in Davidson’s household. Instead she is up at 5am, getting ready to participate in the 4km run.
Davidson hasn’t always been a runner though. In fact, it was her involvement in the Mother’s Day Classic that inspired her to take up the sport.
“The first time I ran the Mother’s Day Classic was an amazing experience. To be on the track running with other people who were united in their desire to make a difference was exhilarating,” she remembers.
Davidson says that lots of other women have taken up running because of the Mother’s Day Classic.
“It’s a very supportive community environment. A lot of people come to the event to walk and see the runners and think ‘maybe I’ll run it next year’,” she explains.
The event was going from strength to strength and with her new love of running, so was Davidson. But then, in what seemed like a cruel twist of fate, Davidson went for a check up and discovered that she had breast cancer.
“It was a terrible shock to me. I somehow thought that all my involvement in the Mother’s Day classic would make me immune from getting [the disease] myself,” she jokes.
Thankfully, Davidson’s diligence with her own health meant that her breast cancer was detected early. She then got to experience the developments that have been made since her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis.
“Everything had advanced really significantly, imagining, surgical technique, the drugs available, radiotherapy.
“It made me feel really excited about the impact fundraising for breast cancer research has had. So much progress has been made,” she says.
Last year, Davidson participated in the Mother’s Day Classic as a breast cancer survivor. While she had always found the event to be an emotional roller coaster, this time the sheer magnitude of the day hit home like never before.
“I was participating for me and my mum, not just for my mum. It was very emotional,” she recalls.
“My diagnosis gave me a different perspective, it was much more personal.”
This year Davidson will be lacing up and joining around 40,000 participants to walk and run around the Tan Track, in the shade of Melbourne’s elm trees.
Nationwide there will be a further 90,000 Australians turning up to 116 venues to take part in the Mothers Day Classic. To date, the event has raised over $27.4 million for cancer research.
The numbers both inspire and sadden Davidson.
“Unfortunately, one of the things that it means is that breast cancer does impact a very large number of people in our community.
“It would be great if it didn’t affect so many people,” she says.
“I would happily give up the Mother’s Day Classic if it meant that breast cancer wasn’t affecting so many people.”
For Davidson, the Mother’s Day Classic will always be a celebration of the lives of those who have breast cancer and others who have been lost to the disease.
“It’s emotional but not depressing,” she says. “There is solidarity in seeing so many people wearing placards on their backs to remember or support someone with breast cancer.”
**For more information on the Mother’s Day Classic, click here.
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