Go Jean, Go Rowsellas, Go Australia!
27 July 2024
Go Jean, Go Rowsellas, Go Australia!
That's our message of support for Peter Mac patient, Jean Mitchell, who will row for Australia in the Women's Four at the Paris Olympics this Sunday night!
Jean has overcome and achieved so much to be competing at the highest level of sport.
Her journey included treatment at Peter Mac for medulloblastoma (a paediatric brain tumour) and recovery from the required surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
“Everyone representing Australia in Paris has shown enormous talent and dedication but few will have overcome the challenges that Jean has,” says Dr Greg Wheeler, chair of the Paediatric and Late Effects Service at Peter Mac.
“Everyone involved in her care at Peter Mac, and the Royal Children’s Hospital, could not be more delighted and proud that Jean is about to achieve her dream of rowing for Australia at the Olympics.
“We will all be cheering on Jean and her crew, the Women’s Four AKA the ‘Rowsellas’, when they race from this weekend.”
Jean was dominating her age class nationally when her cancer was diagnosed at age 16.
In 2016, Peter Mac’s radiotherapy team arranged a spirits-lifting visit to Jean by Australian Olympic gold medallist rower Kim Brennan.
“I’m struggling to put into words how much this means to me and how grateful I am to the village of people who helped me get here,” Jean recently posted on Instagram after her Olympic squad selection.
“To my friends and family, who have been there to support me through my cancer journey and the highs and lows of this sport, I love you so much.
“… Thankyou to all my hard working doctors, nurses and team and the RCH who made a horrible time bearable and are ultimately the reason I’m still here today.”
“I have dreamt of this moment since I was a young girl but there was a time where it seemed so far out of reach. I am so grateful to be living in this moment.”
Read more about Jean’s journey from cancer diagnosis to Olympic squad selection in this article on the World Rowing website.
The Rowsellas - Jean Mitchell, Olympia Aldersey, Lily Alton and Molly Goodman – will be hoping to emulate the Australian “Women’s four” that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Want to cheer them on? The Women’s Four heats begin 8.30pm Australian time on Sunday, 28 July. Check the official program and see more on Jean’s Olympics profile.
You can also send Jean a message of support via Instagram.