Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

On 23 April, I had the privilege of officially launching the Eric Hausoul Sarcoma Foundation. Eric tragically lost his life in November 2008 after bravely fighting sarcoma disease. Sarcoma disease is a tumour—or tumours—that can target the bone, cartilage or muscle and affects predominantly adolescents and young adults aged between 12 years and 25 years. Sarcomas occur 50 per cent more frequently in males than females and are often dismissed as ‘growing pains’. The most common three types of sarcoma are osteosarcoma, which commonly affects teenagers during growth spurts and often affects long bones and those located close to the knee—it is also the most common type of bone cancer; Ewing’s sarcoma, which relates to the nerve cells and makes up between 10 to 15 per cent of all bone sarcomas; and chondroblastic sarcoma, which arises from a person’s cartilage. Misdiagnosis is commonly the cause of death and, unfortunately for Eric, this was the case for him. Currently, there is no effective way to identify or prevent sarcoma. Further research is what is required.

Eric was a true champion. He fought to the end and never gave up. Eric dreamed big, with plans to be a pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force. Eric was part of the Squadron 336 RAAF Cadets Richmond, with plans post high school to attend the Australian Defence Force Academy. Eric would have been extremely proud on the day of the launch. His family, friends, school colleagues, teachers and the community united to support this. I particularly acknowledge his parents and his sister for the work that they have done, and have been doing, in raising the awareness of sarcoma and for their commitment to raising funds for the future research aimed at finding solutions and answers that will prevent deaths like Eric’s.

There are too many young people in Australia and the world that, through no fault of their own, do battle with this unforgiving disease and, like Eric, lose the fight. It was an honour to be asked to launch this foundation. It is vital that money is raised so a cure can be found for this terrible disease. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to support this foundation to do so. No donation is too small and every bit will contribute to a future for our young people.

See this speech in context