Annette St Clair and her husband Peter have had to make a heartbreaking decision for the third time, to postpone the 10th anniversary Amie St Clair Ball, in memory of their daughter Amie who passed away from melanoma.
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Postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ball, which is the major annual fundraiser for the Riverina's melanoma services, was originally scheduled for June 2020 but was cancelled during the first wave of COVID-19.
It was rescheduled for June 2021, but had to be cancelled again, just hours before guests were due to arrive when new regional restrictions were announced as part of measures to combat the latest New South Wales outbreak.
The St Clairs founded the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust in 2010.
The organising committee, led by Mrs St Clair, had set September 18 as the new date, but had to cancel again due to uncertainty when current lockdown restrictions would be eased.
"We really thought we would be third time lucky, but sadly there is just too much uncertainty about when the regional lockdown will end, even though at this point it is due to finish on September 10," Mrs St Clair said.
"The health and safety of our attendees and the Riverina community always comes first and so we've decided to once again postpone the Amie St Clair Ball.
"We're now planning to hold the event on Saturday June 25, 2022, in the hope things will have returned to some degree of normality by then."
The Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust merged with Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) last year.
Riverina melanoma patients have already benefited from the merger, with MIA recently opening its first clinical trial in Wagga.
Mrs St Clair is worried about the impact on providing much-needed melanoma services in the Riverina with the repeated cancellations of the region's annual flagship fundraiser.
"Our decision to merge with Melanoma Institute Australia last year was driven by a desire to boost services available to local patients, including giving them access to the same world-class treatments available in Sydney," Mrs St Clair said.
"We are delighted that a decade after we lost our much-loved daughter to this insidious disease, melanoma patients in the Riverina can now access ground-breaking new trial treatments right here in Wagga, but there is so much more that needs to be done.
"Melanoma continues to be the most common cancer impacting young Australians with one person diagnosed every 30 minutes and it is essential additional services are available so our community can receive the best possible care close to home.
"To have to cancel our ball three times now has left us with a shortfall of funding and sadly the ones who stand to be impacted most are local melanoma patients and their families."
Ticket holders for the September 18 Ball will automatically have their tickets honoured for the new ball on June 25, 2022. Refunds are available on request.
Anyone wishing to donate in memory of Amie St Clair can visit https://donate.melanoma.org.au/amiestclair All funds raised in the Riverina are invested back into melanoma services in the region.
