CANBERRAN Sarah Mamalai is a survivor; a remarkable, wonderful survivor.

The mother of Joe and Willie, then aged four and 18 months, the insidious symptoms caught her and her family by surprise.

“They just crept up on us. It started with anxiety, not being able to sleep, loss of appetite and general confusion,” she says.

“Friends saw me doing strange things like putting paper plates in the dishwasher. I would get lost driving from place to place and would ‘lose time’. All were dismissed as absent-mindedness.

“My boss thought I might have postnatal depression. I remember telling my GP, I felt I was going mad.”

Sarah suffered headaches, which became progressively worse and found it difficult to navigate stairs and other uneven surfaces.

When the diagnosis was delivered this young mother of two says: “Oscar [her husband] and I found ourselves sitting beside an oval near the hospital sobbing for our babies and our lost dreams. I just kept saying: ‘I love my little life and I’m not ready to die’.”

Eight long, difficult years later and Sarah remains a survivor. Beyond the extreme professional medical assistance of leading neurosurgeons, including the amazing Dr Charlie Teo, Sarah says love, prayer and hope went a long way to laying the foundation of her positive outlook.

Her incredible journey included walking the Kokoda Track even though her post-surgical problems included terrible short term memory, poor concentration and inability to cope with complexity.

“I have permanent bald spots, but have five great wigs. Luckily for me my surgical deficits are minor and I’ve developed tools to help me cope with them,” she says.

However, more recently Sarah suffered a setback. A scan revealed a new tumour and a few months ago Sarah undertook yet another life-threatening and invasive operation on her brain. The hope is that this new growth is non-cancerous and treatable.

And here is where we Canberrans – all of us – can help.

Sarah’s recent round of surgery has meant she has again had to re-learn to talk and walk.

If this brave mother, who’s a miracle by all accounts, can get herself to Stromlo Forest for the annual Walk For Brain Cancer on Sunday, November 8, then we all can.

Registrations are open at curebraincancer.org.au.

We need to help keep Sarah’s miracle going and help others battling this insidious illness. Please, come along for the walk.

Marcus Paul is the drive announcer on 2CC.