Corey ‘Stumpy’ Phillips (middle) has been diagnosed with stage four aggressive terminal brain cancer. Youngest brother Jack and close mate Corey Thorburn shaved their dreadlocks off recently in support of Corey.
Hearing that you have brain cancer is heartbreaking. But hearing you have stage four aggressive terminal brain cancer at the age of 23 is life shattering.
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Unfortunately this is Yarrawonga local Corey ‘Stumpy’ Phillips prognosis, however he is making the most of each day with the help of his family, friends and local organisations.
Corey’s brain tumour was first discovered after he had a seizure at work whilst on a ride on lawn mower at Spic & Span.
He was then flown to St Vincent’s in Melbourne for more scans and tests as they found a mass on his brain after a CT scan at the Yarrawonga Hospital.
“He had a golf ball sized tumour which he underwent nine hours of brain surgery to have as much removed as possible at the end of September,” Corey’s sister Kayla said.
“Unfortunately from there he was diagnosed with stage four aggressive terminal brain cancer and advised he should choose to do chemo and radiation.
“It has been a huge shock to our family and friends. Corey just turned 23 in August.
“It has been really hard for all of us but our youngest brother Jack is only 11 months apart from Corey and the boys were always like twins growing up, very close and still are so the boys are both finding it really hard.”
The Phillips family David, Carole, Dean, Kayla, Corey and Jack moved to Yarrawonga 26 years ago with Carole’s parents Phyllis and Tom King managing Capri Waters Country Club as well as selling timeshare.
Corey, who is lovingly known as “Stumpy”, got the nickname when he was young as he was also born with Poland Syndrome, causing him to have a small hand and missing pectoral muscle which has never held him back in life and he proudly overcame that.
‘Stumpy’ has made many friends around town through his jobs, completing his butcher apprenticeship at Nagles Off the Hook Butchery where he still remains very close with Matt and Bron Nagle before deciding to try something different and begin working with Spic and Span, out in the community doing property maintenance which he also really enjoyed and became well known around town for.
“Everyone admires his positive attitude, never giving up hope and making the most of each day.
“He loves spending time with family and friends, always keeping busy with fishing, riding his motorbike, going for drives and he just loves everyone getting together,” Kayla said.
“He also continues to mow all of the family’s lawns and do as much as he can for everyone else with his selfless heart. He loves being able to help with anything he can.
“Corey is doing amazingly well with his treatment. He has almost completed three weeks of chemo and radiation and all of our family have been taking turns taking him to Albury and back.
“He really loves his motorbike and getting out for a ride when he can which is why the Old Skool Riders have organised the run for him as well.”
‘Stumpy’ has a great love of motorbikes which is why the Old Skool Riders Social Club are hosting a fund run for him on Sunday, December 11, starting at the Yarrawonga Hotel with entries open at 8am and the ride taking off at 9am sharp.
To help with the medical expenses Corey and his family are now enduring, the Old Skool Riders Social Club are hosting a fund run on Sunday, December 11, starting at the Yarrawonga Hotel.
Old Skool Riders Social Club President Steve Docking said the social club started as a good bunch of mates who would go for a ride together and decided they wanted to assist members of the community while doing something they love.
“We would get together and just go for a ride every few months but then we decided to make a club of it and to start doing something to help the community,” owner of the Uppercut Property Maintenance Steve said.
“While I am president of the club, we will continue to hold fund runs to help those who are suffering.
“This particular cause came about as ‘Stumpy’ is mates with my stepson and he is a good bloke who is going through a tough time, so we decided it was the perfect cause to begin our fundraising efforts with.”
The fund run is for bikes and cars which will travel approximately 145kms and will see entries start at 8am at the rear of the Yarrawonga Hotel with the run to start at 9am start.
“We know that many people will be wary about the route we are planning to take but we are going to check the roads a few days out and then the day before or morning of,” Steve said.
“The route we take isn’t 100 per cent set in stone as road conditions may come into play but we believe our current planned route should be ok and the ride, even if redirected, is going to happen regardless of weather.
“Both cars and bikes are welcome, and we would love to see a great mixture come along and get involved.
“We are going to have four stops along the way with raffles held at each stop.
“We are expecting around 100 people on the day but would love to see others get involved.”
To be involved, it is $25 entry per head with four hotel stops which will each have a raffle drawn to win a $100 voucher from a local business.
A raffle ticket will be provided to each entrant with each entry having the chance to win all four raffles.
The raffle prizes include a $100 Supercheap voucher donated by Uppercut Property Maintenance, $100 meat voucher donated by Nagles Off the Hook Butchery, $100 voucher donated by Yarrawonga Locksmiths and a $100 venue voucher donated by Yarrawonga Hotel.
All proceeds will be donated to Corey Philips.
For more information on the fund run visit the Old Skool Riders Social page on Facebook or contact Steve on 0419 696 669.
As Corey has been out of work and had no income for a while, having only just recently applied for a Centrelink payment, Kayla has also set up a GoFundMe as the donations have helped him survive with everyday costs and travel expenses ect.
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