Caringbah’s Kathryn Wakelin, who’s brought hope to families out of her own personal heartbreak, has been named the 2026 Cronulla Woman of the Year.
Kathryn co-founded Levi’s Project with her husband Ben after the loss of their son Levi from an aggressive and incurable form of childhood brain cancer.
Levi was diagnosed with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) aged seven in 2017 and passed away just over a year later.
Kathryn’s story is one of turning adversity into good for the benefit of others.
After setting up Levi’s Project with husband Ben, Kathryn has been the driving force behind an inspirational fundraising effort to help find effective treatment for the disease that took the life of her son Levi.
In just six years Levi’s Project has raised an extraordinary $6 million for world-leading research and clinical trials at the Children’s Cancer Institute for children with DIPG, providing vital funds for work zeroing in on a breakthrough treatment.
With husband Ben, Kathryn’s determination to help find a cure for the disease will potentially make a huge difference for children fighting this disease.
I congratulate Kathryn on her vision, courage, passion and tireless work rallying support, so that other families might one day have an answer to one of the deadliest childhood cancers.
More information about Levi’s project is available at www.levisproject.org.