Narelle Gentles wishes she didn't know as much as she does about melanoma cancer.
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It took just eight weeks from her diagnosis for her mother Maria to succumb to the aggressive cancer in December 2017.
"It was absolutely devastating," she said.
"I was very close to my mum, she was someone you could sit and talk to."
Six months later her mother-in-law Lorraine passed away from the same cancer.
Her sense of grief was unimaginable.
Ms Gentles a Port Macquarie resident, is turning her grief into hope by walking part of Jay's Longest Melanoma Walk in Sydney.
Melanoma survivor 32-year-old Jay Allen will walk 2000km over 50 days from Adelaide to Sydney.
It was a great sense of loss and grief.
- Narelle Gentles
Ms Gentles will walk part of the Sydney stretch on May 19, which coincides with the one year anniversary of her mother-in-law's death.
"I thought it was a really nice way of celebrating her life," she said.
Ms Gentles wants to get the message across how quickly melanoma can spread.
Her mother was only diagnosed after a doctor noticed a lump on her sternum, a CT scan revealed she had tumours all through her spine and lungs.
She said Port Macquarie is a "sun town, a coastal town" and people need to be vigilant.
Jay's Longest Melanoma Walk kicks off in Adelaide on March 31.
The walk is raising funds for Melanoma Institute Australia’s research into finding a cure for melanoma.
To donate to Narelle's campaign click here and look out for donation boxes which will be placed in local businesses within the Hastings area.
