Recognition Earned for Determination and Vision

Three-time cancer survivor, Sue Clark-Pitrolo, has been recognised for her outstanding commitment to helping rewrite the future of people in the Hunter, awarded the prestigious annual Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Chairman’s Medal.

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“I am delighted to bestow the Charitable Foundation’s Chairman’s Medal on Sue Clark-Pitrolo for her work to create the Kaden Centre in the Hunter. Thanks to her vision and determination, her purpose-built exercise oncology centre has so far helped over 800 cancer patients throughout their treatment journey,” said Jennifer Leslie, Chair of Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation.

Established by the Charitable Foundation in 2017, the prestigious Medal acknowledges the contribution of an outstanding individual volunteer to their organisation’s work.

“It is such a huge honour to receive this Medal. When I was told, I started to cry,” Sue shared on receiving the news she was awarded the accolade for creating the Kaden Centre.

An environmental scientist, Sue was inspired to start the unique facility in Newcastle in 2018 after realising how important exercise and movement was to her own cancer treatment recovery.

“Whether you’re in cancer treatment or in survivorship, going from being active to not at all can lead to massive muscle atrophy. For me, it got to the point where I couldn’t stand up from a chair,” Sue recalls.

“The saying ‘if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it’ is really true when it comes to cancer. But with exercise oncology like that which we provide at the Kaden Centre, allied health professionals design individualised exercise sessions around your cancer to help you stay in the best physical condition you can, rather than you going down into the depths of disability.”

When established, the Kaden Centre was seeing 30 oncology patients a week. Now that figure is around 370 a week, with the Centre having helped keep over 800 clients undergoing cancer treatment active at its Warrabrook centre and through COVID via home-based programs.

“We now have over 50 specialists referring here – oncologists, surgeons, anaesthetists. We also have over 300 GPs referring to us. This is going from exercise oncology being completely unknown in 2017, to the Kaden Centre being an integral part of cancer care in Newcastle and the Hunter in 2021. So I’m pretty proud of that,” Sue said.

Sue says key to the Kaden Centre’s growth has been the generous support from the community, including that of the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation.

“The Kaden Centre has evolved to be its own community of sorts, supporting clients generate not just physical strength but emotional strength too.”