Reality television contestant Kyal Demmrich has jumped onto a cause close to his heart.
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Demmrich, who starred in the 2014 season of The Block, is among a group of Aussie personalities who have been challenged to ‘man up’ as part of the Real Men Wear Pink campaign.
Other television celebrities like Scott Cam are also taking part in the fundraising initiative, which will help the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) undertake vital research.
On Wednesday morning it was Demmrich’s turn to confront his fears by jumping out of a plane and skydiving over the Illawarra coastline.
‘’I lost my grandma to breast cancer, and have had other family members diagnosed with the disease, so that was my motivation,’’ he said.
‘’I think most people know someone who’s faced the same diagnosis so it’s important to do anything we can do to raise funds to prevent, treat or ultimately cure breast cancer.
‘’So it was a privilege for me to take part in this.’’
Demmrich, 30, donned a pink tutu for the tandem dive and while he clearly enjoyed the experience provided by Skydive Australia, he was glad to be back on solid ground.
‘’The view up there was incredible and you feel like you’re flying,’’ he said. ‘’But with my wife Kara and I expecting a baby, I’m glad my parachute opened and we had a safe landing.’’
The NBCF hopes to raise over $1 million from the campaign which will culminate in an awareness day on June 24 with men, and women, encouraged to wear pink.
University of Sydney Professor Des Richardson – whose research is being funded by NBCF – urged people to join in.
‘’We are testing the chemical make-up of a new drug so that it will overcome tumour resistance, giving us an effective way of treating breast cancer once it spreads,” Professor Richardson said.
“This kind of breakthrough is possible in many areas of breast cancer research, with the support of people through fundraising initiatives like this.’’
Every day in 2016, 44 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer and eight women will die from the disease.
NBCF CEO Sarah Hosking said, “We believe research is the most effective way to prevent deaths from breast cancer and our goal is that by 2030 there will be zero deaths from this terrible disease.’’