I first met Katie in mid 2007, only a few months after starting triathlon. She was doing her honours in Sport and Exercise Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast looking at triathletes. I volunteered to be one of her subjects. After 3 sessions where she put me through the ringer, coaxed me through some grueling testing on a bike and a treadmill where she was wiping spit off my face and the floor (from the O2 mask I had to wear) & taking my blood- lets just say we were way past small talk after the first 5minutes of meeting!
She became my most reliable coffee date. Only living about 3kms away we were regulars at our favourtie coffee shop Nude in Cotton Tree, for Saturday morning coffees and muffins. Talking about all things 20-something year old chicks do; gossip, boys, work, boys, training, boys, plans for the future and boys! Giving eachother advice on boys, life, training and boys.... She was one of the few people I could be totally honest with, trust with my darkest of secrets and reassured that I would always feel so much better after spending time with her smile, laugh and conversation.
Katie was someone who was the maker of her own destiny and happiness. I saw her make a big decision to give in a project that was making her unhappy to reclaim joys in her life. This is something most people are too frightened to do....Katie was not, a trait that I admired and have now worked hard on to engrain into myself.
It broke my heart when her and her fiance at the time relocated to townsville in far north QLD in May 2010.
Something was going on though....she had been complaining of intermittent lower back pain for sometime. After some testing/ scans which didn't prove to show anything, she put it down to musculoskeletal. In September 2010 she was admitted with severe abdominal pain and over the following days the source was found to be a large mass pressing on her urters and sacral plexus stemming from a cervical cancer. Over the coming months thing got worse. In October her kidneys decided to shut down and drains had to be inserted. Around this time she relocated back to her parent's in Newcastle to continue with her treatment. At this time she stopped answering phone calls and would sporadically send the occasional text message. In Decmeber the cancer had spread to her abdominal lymph nodes and she said to me:
'I'm still positive i'll beat this but god it's a hard mental game'
That was the last time I directly heard from her. Amongst our mutual friends we kept eachother updated as best we could with what information we could get from her parents. Last week I was told that she was going off to a health retreat for her birthday and then she was going to come back up to the sunshine coast for a visit in the next few weeks....
Then I got the phone call I never, ever thought I would.... she had passed away after collapsing at the health retreat from a kidney infection. She hung on until the morning of her 28th birthday and then slipped away from our world leaving us left behind shattered and empty. Words cannot describe the hole I have inside and how much I will miss my loving and loyal friend.
My next race is China 70.3. I am doing this race in memory of Katie Sutter and coincidently am fundraising for the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation. Please donate to this amazing cause so that we can help prevent, treat and ensure that we don't lose any more young women to this devesating disease.
Please click on the link below and give what you can to this cause: whether it's $1 or $100- every cent will go to the foundation and to this worthy cause.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/rachael_paxton
I will be blogging frequently to keep everyone updated in regards to fundraising and China 70.3 prep/ race.
Rachie xo
Stunning Sutter
Her 1st Olympic Distance Triathlon, Mooloolaba 2010
My 25th Birthday
Adam, Charlie and Katie at my birthday
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