On World Blood Cancer Day in 2025, TLR co-founders Neil and Kathryn ran a stem cell donor drive at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre. The goal was 50 new donors to mark 50 years of stem cell transplants in Australia. One of the nurses who walked over to register was Kirstie, a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the hospital’s haematology team.
“It’s the least I can do seeing as though TLR paid for my Master’s degree.”
The moment nobody planned
TLR funds the Trace Richey Nursing Scholarship through the University of Sydney, but the university manages who it’s awarded to. Neil and Kathryn knew the name on the scholarship. They had never been able to put a face to it until Kirstie turned up at their donor drive two years later.
She’d already appeared in a short film on TLR’s homepage the year before. Now she was standing in front of them, joining the stem cell donor registry and a week away from submitting her thesis. Nobody planned any of it. Sometimes the best stories just happen on their own.
Kirstie helped TLR exceed its target that day. More than 50 new donors registered to mark 50 years of stem cell transplants.
From general nursing to cancer care
Kirstie moved to Australia from Wales nine years ago. She spent six years nursing across a range of hospital specialties before her patients and her own family’s experience with cancer drew her towards oncology and haematology in 2021.
From her first days in the field, she knew this was where she wanted to build her career. She’s now based at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, part of St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.
In 2023, she received the Trace Richey Nursing Scholarship and enrolled in the Master of Cancer and Haematology Nursing at the University of Sydney.
Balancing full time clinical work and a Master’s degree is exactly as fun as it sounds, but the course gave her specialist knowledge she wouldn’t have had otherwise. It also connected her with nurses from other hospitals across Australia. She built close friendships with four nurses from Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s, and the experience of sharing the load made the whole thing more manageable.
Kirstie at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, where she’s now an Early Breast Clinical Nurse Consultant.
What the scholarship made possible
The scholarship didn’t just help Kirstie finish a degree. It opened doors that wouldn’t have existed without it.
While studying, she stepped into acting roles covering the Nursing Unit Manager of the oncology and haematology outpatient unit and the McGrath Early Breast Cancer Clinical Nurse Consultant. Those opportunities came directly from her postgraduate qualification. Without the Master’s, she wouldn’t have been considered.
That’s why TLR funds nursing scholarships. Not because it looks good on a brochure, but because specialist nurses deliver better care for people going through the worst time of their lives. A nurse with deeper knowledge spots things earlier. A nurse with stronger skills manages complications more confidently. Every dollar that goes into a TLR scholarship comes back as better care for someone facing cancer.
A full circle moment
Kirstie with TLR co-founder Kathryn on the day Kirstie joined the stem cell donor registry.
In 2024, Kirstie appeared in a short film for TLR as a way of giving back. She’s the nurse featured in the video on the homepage. But it was the following year, on World Blood Cancer Day, that everything connected.
She registered as a stem cell donor, met the people whose fundraising had made her Master’s possible, and found out she’d been part of TLR’s story for longer than anyone realised.
“Being able to thank Neil and Kathryn face to face made the entire Master’s worthwhile.”
Tears were definitely shed that day.
Where Kirstie is now
Kirstie has graduated with her Master of Cancer and Haematology Nursing. She’s now an Early Breast Clinical Nurse Consultant and McGrath Cancer Care Nurse at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre. She’s also a registered stem cell donor. Because apparently finishing a Master’s degree wasn’t quite enough to keep her busy.
What comes next for TLR’s nursing scholarships
Kirstie’s story shows what one scholarship can do. TLR now has two perpetual scholarships in the Master of Cancer and Haematology Nursing at the University of Sydney: the Trace Richey Nursing Scholarship and the Allan Frenkel Nursing Scholarship. Both help nurses become specialists in cancer and haematology care.
The next step is already underway. TLR has just awarded its first scholarship for a haematology nurse to complete the Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) at the University of Sydney. A Nurse Practitioner can diagnose, prescribe medications, order tests, and lead complex care independently. It takes specialist nursing to the next level with clinical leadership.
From specialists to leaders. That’s the pipeline TLR is building.
How you can help
None of this happens without the people who support TLR. Every person who ran (well, walked, we’re not professional athletes) the City2Surf, every dollar donated by someone who believed in what TLR does, helped make Kirstie’s scholarship possible. That’s not a line from a brochure. That’s what actually happened.
If you want to help fund the next scholarship, donate to The TLR Foundation here.