CANCER won’t STOP ME
We’re standing atop Flinders Peak, soaking in the panoramic views that stretch all around us. It’s a clear Sunday morning, and we can just make out the faint-grey blocks of Brisbane city’s skyscrapers to the north. Far more impressive, though, are the distant rugged mountains of south-east Queensland’s Scenic Rim, Main Range and Lamington Plateau.
“See down there?” Ashley peers over an almost sheer drop down the side of the summit. “I nearly fell down there once.”
This is about the sixth near-death experience Ashley has related to me this hot January morning. Ashley, two of his friends and myself have hiked to the summit of Flinders Peak on the beaten track, planning to go off it on the way down in search of a cave.
If there’s one word to describe Ashley Druve, it’s fearless; something I am not – especially when it comes to heights. As we go off track and descend towards the cave, Ashley starts telling me about a seventh near-death mountain climbing experience, and I find myself questioning whether this adventure with these three was a good idea.
But that’s Ashley – full of crazy, incredible, grabbing-at-life-with-both-hands ideas.
What’s even more remarkable is that Ashley – 47, husband, father of three, and ultra runner – has stage IV cancer.
The day Ashley found out he had cancer was like any other. He got up, had breakfast, and got ready to drive to school, where he worked as a sports coach.
Something did feel a bit different, though. “I just
