In Mathoura, a small country town 250 kilometres north of Melbourne, there is a fence covered in thousands of bras.
For passersby, the bra fence is something of a spectacle and a bit of a mystery at first.
"Some of them say they come up over the little rise in the road and it just stands out. And then they have to stop and find out about it," Sharnie Celli tells ABC RN's Earshot.
But for the locals, the fence is a reminder of how the people of Mathoura have come together to help each other out in times of need.
Sharnie started the fence almost four years ago. Back then, it was just one bra.
"A cheeky green one with frogs on it," she says.
"Which is what Wendy was about."
Fun and cheeky, just like Wendy
Wendy Nikolovski died from breast cancer in 2017. She was one of Sharnie's closest friends.
After Wendy's death, Sharnie wanted to do something to honour her friend and also give others the opportunity to remember those they'd lost to cancer.
She got the idea of a bra fence after seeing a travel show about a similar fence in Cardrona in Central Otago, New Zealand, which started back in the late 90s.
"I liked the idea because it was fun, different and cheeky, just like Wendy."
But she says it wasn't as easy to get off the ground as she'd imagined.
"[I was] trying to find a fence to hang the bras on," she says.
In the end, Mathoura local Ann Robertson volunteered the fence on her property.
For Ann, honouring Wendy was a no-brainer.
Wendy and her husband had owned the Mathoura post office where many of the locals did their banking, and Ann says her friend always had a positive impact on the town.
"Even when she was battling cancer, she still had a smile on the face and went to work every day while she was still able to," Ann says.
"[Wendy] didn't stop. She raised money for the skate park. She was in on anything that was a fundraiser and was a very community-orientated person."
"I don't think there's anyone who would have a bad word to say about her. [She was] just a beautiful person and greatly missed."
While the bras on the Cardrona fence were cleared after the local council deemed the fence an eyesore, it's a different story in Mathoura.
The locals are proud of the fence — and the bras have multiplied.
"We got to about 750 and we stopped counting," Sharnie says.
"Everybody who we have met is very grateful that we're doing this."
As well as the thousands of bras, there's a donation tin attached to the fence. It's there for anyone who wants to donate a dollar or two.
Sharnie and Ann use the money to buy petrol and food vouchers for locals undergoing cancer treatment. Many face either a two-hour journey to Bendigo or three-and-a-half-hour trip to Melbourne several times a week.
"It's about making their life a little bit easier," Ann says.
Since it started, the fence has raised over $20,000 and supported more than 30 community members.
'I'm that cancer patient'
Like other Mathoura locals, Tim Starkey knew what the bra fence stood for.
So, when his dad came home one night and handed him some vouchers, he didn't want to take them at first.
"I'm pretty sure Dad went to the petrol station. Because Ann works there, she had given him the vouchers when he fuelled up and [she'd] said, 'Take them home and use them as you will.'"
Tim messaged Ann to thank her, but he admits he had his guard up.
"I was thinking in my head, 'Shit, now I'm that cancer patient. I'm the person the community is all looking at … or trying to help'."
Tim was diagnosed with testicular cancer in late 2019. He was 33. He already knew how terrible cancer could be; his nan had passed away from breast cancer three years earlier.
The diagnosis hit him and his family hard. And he says it just kept hitting him.
"You'll go to a party, and you'll have a good time and you'll be talking and drinking … and then bang, you'll think, 'I've got cancer.'"
Amid the invasive tests, surgeries and chemo treatments, Tim says he quickly realised he needed whatever help he could get. He considered himself lucky to have the town on his side.
Ann says Mathoura is special like that.
"I don't know what other towns are like, I'm sure they do stick together in times of need, but we definitely do here, that's for sure," she says.
For Tim, the community and his nan were never far from his thoughts.
"[My nan] fought it for six years, and I went in with boxing gloves on, ready to smack the shit out of this thing," he says.
With the help of a team of doctors and chemo nurses, who he describes as "very special people", he did just that
In January 2021, after more than 12 months of treatment, Tim's GP told him he was cancer free.
After all the community and family support Tim received, he decided to take that January trip to the doctors alone.
"I wasn't emotional there and then, but I got out into the car and, before I could even ring mum or dad or anyone, I just sat in my car and bawled," he says.
"It was just the massive relief of, I'm going to be alive," he says.
Sadly not everyone survives, but Sharnie says in Mathoura that hasn't stopped people from giving back to the community.
Some people they've supported have asked for donations to the bra fence in lieu of flowers.
"They have written it in their will, and have the donation box at the funeral," she says.
"It's just the community. These people, even in the height of their sickness, are still thinking of how they can help others."
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