My Activity Tracking
98
kms
My target 160 kms
Support my challenge to end pancreatic cancer
When I signed up to walk 78km for Remember September, I knew the distance itself wasn’t exactly going to make me an endurance athlete.
It’s a little over 2km a day. I already train five or six times a week, so on paper it should be quite manageable.
But that’s not really why I’m doing it.
Last March, my wife Amanda was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
By the time we knew something was seriously wrong, the disease was already advanced. Looking back, there had been signs for six to eight months beforehand. We just didn’t know what they meant.
We’re now six months into treatment.
Until cancer lands in the middle of your own family, I don’t think you fully appreciate how completely it changes things. There’s the obvious stuff — scans, blood tests, chemotherapy, medications and appointments — but there’s also everything that happens around them.
Your calendar changes. Your priorities change. Conversations about next year suddenly feel different.
And time takes on an entirely different meaning.
That has probably been one of the hardest things for me.
There’s an urgency that comes with pancreatic cancer. An overwhelming desire to find the next treatment, the next trial, the next piece of research that might make a difference. You very quickly discover just how desperately more research is needed.
Amanda is still very much here, fighting, exercising, laughing and getting on with life. So this isn’t a story about giving up or accepting an outcome.
Quite the opposite.
It’s about wanting more time.
More treatment options. More breakthroughs. More people diagnosed earlier. More families being given something better than the statistics they face today.
That’s why I’m walking.
The 78km is really just the vehicle. It gives me an excuse to talk about pancreatic cancer for a month, raise some money and perhaps help a few more people understand a disease most of us know very little about until it enters our lives.
I haven’t been much of a walker for the last few years, so there may even be the unexpected benefit of creating a new habit. One of our dogs could certainly use it.
Actually, so could I.
But every kilometre ultimately comes back to the same thing.
Amanda.
And the hope that research being funded today might give families like ours something we all desperately want.
More tomorrows.
My Dedication Wall for my wife, Amanda Perryman
My Tribute Post
Thank you to my Sponsors
$1.04k
Anonymous
With love
$1.04k
James & Beu
Dave, special cause and too close to home, hugs to Amanda, and yes please do not go naked!!
$540
John Dunlop
❤️
$500
Incline Body And Wellness
Great work David & Bec ❤️💪👍🚶 I look forward to joining you on one of your walks.
$500
Smith Goughs
Sending our love
$500
Fitzpatricks Sydney Pty Ltd
Go daveee
$500
Matched Donation
$500
Megan Mallick
$440
David Perryman
$271.22
Peter Cairns
$271.22
Peter & Sue
$271.22
Adam Trevena
Great work, Bec & Dave. Enjoy the walk !!
$269.13
J & S Carolan
$269.13
Kiki & Ronny B
We’re here for you DP and especially Mindy!
$269.13
Matched Donation
$269.13
Ian Perryman
It’s been a long time but thinking of you all . Xx
$255.50
Timothy Ong
All the best to you and Amanda, keep up the good fight! Love the photos ;)
$216.50
Lydia Hamilton
$216.50
Matched Donation
$216.50
Patricia Perryman
So proud of you
$216.50
Christophe Musielak
$216.50
The Tuxen Family
Much love and thoughts to you and Amanda
$216.50
The Vault Jewellery Company Pty Ltd
OMG very sorry, dear Amanda all the best of luck
$200
Nick Mcdonald Crowley
$188
Patrick & Rosemary Mcdonogh
We are wishing you all the best in the challenge Love you all x
$163.43
Maria
Sending you thoughts of strength and support .
$153.72
Coakley
Go David! And more importantly Go Amanda!
$106.75
Megan & John Mallick
$106.75
Janelle O’connell
Sending lots of Love to Amanda, yourself and all the family. I hope this fundraiser brings some light and positivity, and reminds you that there are so many people standing beside you, supporting you and sending love every step of the way. Looks like you need to up your goal- the last one has been kicked out the park.
$106.75
Black & White Hair
Go for gold David !
$106.75
Anonymous
❤️
$106.75
Zucchero Caffè Bar
Way to go mate !
$106.75
Anonymous
Go well. Best wishes to you both
$106.75
Russ Campbell
Best of luck for all of the challenges ahead PES.
$106.75
Carly Bull
$106.75
Steph And Jonny Silcock
For goodness sake keep your pants on David!! Go your hardest for your beautiful wife and our precious, precious friend! Big love.
$100
Stu And Nicole Carlaw
$85.24
Toula Lorandos
Let’s beat this bastard of a disease David !
$85.24
L Perryman
XX
$85.24
Sam & Trent Bromley
Love & prayers from The Bromley/Guerin families
$85.24
Anonymous
$85.24
Matched Donation
$55.95
Elisha Rickward
Great initiative David - thinking of all the Perryman's right now. With love Elisha
$55.95
Jane Scholefield
$55
Nicole Moore
I’m so sorry you’re all faced with this hideous disease. Wishing you all the best for your massive challenge. Sending love and support.
$50
Alicia
Thinking of all the Perryman’s XO
$41.03
Adam Huntley
$36
Jane Perryman & Nick Benham
Enjoy and get stuck into this great challenge for an amazing cause. Sending so much love from the UK to you, Amanda and all your family and friends all supporting each other. ❤️🏃♂️❤️
$36
Colin Perryman
Great challenge good luck David
Thank you to my Sponsors
$500
Incline Body And Wellness
Great work David & Bec ❤️💪👍🚶 I look forward to joining you on one of your walks.
$500
Smith Goughs
Sending our love
$500
Fitzpatricks Sydney Pty Ltd
Go daveee
$500
Matched Donation
$500
Megan Mallick
$440
David Perryman
$271.22
Peter Cairns
$271.22
Peter & Sue
$271.22
Adam Trevena
Great work, Bec & Dave. Enjoy the walk !!
$269.13
J & S Carolan
$269.13
Kiki & Ronny B
We’re here for you DP and especially Mindy!
$269.13
Matched Donation
$269.13
Ian Perryman
It’s been a long time but thinking of you all . Xx
$255.50
Timothy Ong
All the best to you and Amanda, keep up the good fight! Love the photos ;)
$216.50
Lydia Hamilton
$216.50
Matched Donation
$216.50
Patricia Perryman
So proud of you
$216.50
Christophe Musielak
$216.50
The Tuxen Family
Much love and thoughts to you and Amanda
$216.50
The Vault Jewellery Company Pty Ltd
OMG very sorry, dear Amanda all the best of luck
$200
Nick Mcdonald Crowley
$188
Patrick & Rosemary Mcdonogh
We are wishing you all the best in the challenge Love you all x
$163.43
Maria
Sending you thoughts of strength and support .
$153.72
Coakley
Go David! And more importantly Go Amanda!
$106.75
Megan & John Mallick
$106.75
Janelle O’connell
Sending lots of Love to Amanda, yourself and all the family. I hope this fundraiser brings some light and positivity, and reminds you that there are so many people standing beside you, supporting you and sending love every step of the way. Looks like you need to up your goal- the last one has been kicked out the park.
$106.75
Black & White Hair
Go for gold David !
$106.75
Anonymous
❤️
$106.75
Zucchero Caffè Bar
Way to go mate !
$106.75
Anonymous
Go well. Best wishes to you both
$106.75
Russ Campbell
Best of luck for all of the challenges ahead PES.
$106.75
Carly Bull
$106.75
Steph And Jonny Silcock
For goodness sake keep your pants on David!! Go your hardest for your beautiful wife and our precious, precious friend! Big love.
$100
Stu And Nicole Carlaw
$85.24
Toula Lorandos
Let’s beat this bastard of a disease David !
$85.24
L Perryman
XX
$85.24
Sam & Trent Bromley
Love & prayers from The Bromley/Guerin families
$85.24
Anonymous
$85.24
Matched Donation
$55.95
Elisha Rickward
Great initiative David - thinking of all the Perryman's right now. With love Elisha
$55.95
Jane Scholefield
$55
Nicole Moore
I’m so sorry you’re all faced with this hideous disease. Wishing you all the best for your massive challenge. Sending love and support.
$50
Alicia
Thinking of all the Perryman’s XO
$41.03
Adam Huntley
$36
Jane Perryman & Nick Benham
Enjoy and get stuck into this great challenge for an amazing cause. Sending so much love from the UK to you, Amanda and all your family and friends all supporting each other. ❤️🏃♂️❤️
$36
Colin Perryman
Great challenge good luck David
IN MEMORY OF STEWART GIBB-CUMMING “Stu from the Zoo” 2018 I made my living with pictures. Stu taught me to think in words. I met Stewart in 1994. By the time pancreatic cancer took him in 2018, he had been part of my life for 24 years. Before meeting Stu, I’d attended AWARD School — the Advertising Writers and Art Directors School. As someone who naturally sees in pictures, I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed copywriting. I became fascinated by the ability of a few carefully chosen words to make someone stop, look, think — or see a picture differently. Then I met Stu from the Zoo. Stu was an old-school advertising man in the very best sense. He’d worked in the big agencies before establishing his own boutique design agency, The Creative Zoo. He was also a brilliant copywriter. Stu took that early fascination I had with words and gave it somewhere to grow. He taught me to appreciate a great headline, a clever turn of phrase and, perhaps most importantly, the literal meaning of words — choosing them carefully and saying precisely what you mean. Stu gave a specialist photographer an advertising mind. That stayed with me throughout my career. I loved creating the photograph, but also thinking about the idea around it — the headline, the catchphrase, the few words that might make somebody stop long enough to look. But Stu’s influence on me went far beyond work. He took me under his wing near the beginning of my career. He became a significant client, later a tenant in my photographic studio, a mentor and a close friend. He was one of the few people who really knew me across both my professional and personal worlds. He understood how I worked, what drove me, my strengths and probably plenty of my weaknesses too. The last time I saw Stu properly, I took him to lunch for old times’ sake. We’d shared many work lunches over the years and, at the time, things seemed hopeful. He was apparently beating pancreatic cancer and looking forward to getting out and about again. A few months later, he returned to hospital to have a port fitted to begin further chemotherapy. He developed an infection and died just a week later. His family generously allowed me to visit him in hospital. He was unconscious by then, but I was able to sit beside my old friend one last time, just a few days before he died. Now pancreatic cancer has entered my life again, I find myself thinking about Stu more often. A brilliant copywriter would probably know exactly how to finish this. I wish you were still here to write the line, Stu. But perhaps the simplest words are the right ones. My mentor. My friend. Stu from the Zoo. This September, I’m walking for you too.