Join RBWH surgical patient turn avid runner, Juliette McAleer, and the rest of the RBWH Foundation community this April in the exercise challenge of the year – the Royal 50K!  

Register today to Run, walk, swim or cycle 50 kilometres throughout the month of April and raise crucial funds for patient care initiatives and life-saving medical and health research.  

Maryborough mother-of-five Juliette discovered a love for running less than a year ago, after rebuilding her life following a bowel obstruction in 2020 that almost killed her.  

The condition caused most of her small bowel and stomach to die, resulting in Short Bowel Syndrome. Juliette is now tube-fed for nutrition. 

“All you need to do when things feel hard is put one foot in front of the other,” said Juliette. 

“This is what I have done with running – I simply started putting one foot in front of the other with the help of doctors and physios and the other wonderful staff of Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), focusing on each foot and gaining confidence and strength with every step.” 

Funds raised during the Royal 50K will support grant projects led by clinicians who deal directly with patients. This year the RBWH Foundation will double the funding available for these grants, but many more initiatives will remain unfunded. 

“For every innovative and life-changing project the RBWH Foundation funds, there are six others that go unfunded,” said RBWH Foundation CEO Simone Garske. 

“Our last grant round, late last year, attracted $3.2 million worth of funding requests. We could only fund 11 of the 76 applications we received.” 

As a Royal 50K Ambassador, Juliette hopes to inspire and encourage participants to help fill the funding gap, together.  

“It is so important for people to realise that without donations, many innovative patient care initiatives and life-saving research projects would not be possible,” said Juliette. 

“I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the donors to RBWH Foundation who enable the biggest hospital in the state to achieve positive outcomes for patients like me.” 

RBWH is Queensland’s largest hospital and treats about 600,000 patients each year from throughout regional and remote Queensland, Northern New South Wales, Northern Territory and part of the Pacific Rim. 

Register today and help make a difference – one step at a time.