A young Thornlie dynamo is a great cycle champion, spending her summer rallying donations to save little lives in a ride to fight kids’ cancer.
At only seven years old, Sage Brougham has taken on the lofty goal of riding 50 kilometres to raise money as part of the Great Cycle Challenge, which aims to fund for life-saving research to develop safe and effective treatments for childhood cancers.
Proud mum, Fay, who encourages her kids to stay active with a range of after-school sports and activities, says her daughter approached her with the idea.
“A couple of weeks ago it popped up on Facebook, so I mentioned it to my husband that that was happening, and sage happened to overhear,” she said.
“I said there was a charity ride to help kids with cancer, and Sage said, “I want to help kids with cancer.””
“I said, “it’s a long way and you’re really not much of a cyclist,” and she said she could do it.”
Since then, Sage has been busy preparing for her epic charity ride, smashing the fundraising targets she first set for herself.
“We targeted 50km and $500 and she met her fundraising target so we raised it to a thousand,” said Fay.
So far, Sage has raised $948 and is very grateful to the local community for supporting her efforts.
When asked why she decided to fundraise for cancer, little Sage was confident in her response:
“Because kids need to be with their mummies and daddies. I won’t find it hard because I do boxing and I’m strong,” she said.
But her mum says they will be doing a lot of training to make sure Sage’s cycling skills are up to scratch.
“She’s okay on the bike, but she’s not a natural rider so it will be quite a challenge for all involved,” she said.
“She has the month of October to ride 50km, and we’re going to try and take her on long rides and do large chunks.”
Member for Thornlie, Chris Tallentire MLA, became an enthusiastic supporter when he heard of Sage’s efforts.
“My congratulations to Sage for committing to the Great Cycle Challenge,” he said.
“Raising funds for kids with cancer is an incredibly worthy cause, but even more important is her empathy.”
You can donate to Sage’s fundraising efforts by searching her name on the Great Cycle Challenge website.
