CEDAR Vale woman Cassandra Underwood is looking forward to fun and frivolity when she hosts a Biggest Morning Tea event this Saturday, but is also hoping the event will raise awareness of a rare form of cancer.
Ms Underwood's sister, Rowena Uncle, died in 2014 after a two year battle against mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer that attacks the body's membranes.
At just 33, Rowena's death was a tragedy for her family, including her five daughters, now growing up without a mother.
Ms Underwood said she did not want her sister's death to be in vain and hoped to educate the community about the dangers of asbestos.
"I remembered when she first got diagnosed, I looked it up then I said to her don't you dare go on Google," she said.
"The information wasn't inspiring.
"Doctors told her chemo was her only option, the cancer was on the lining of her lungs and so she wasn't a candidate for surgery.
"I travelled to Gladstone a lot to be with her while she was going through it."
Ms Underwood said among the most frustrating part of the cancer was its incubation time.
"The doctors said it was something that could take almost 20 years to develop in someone's body," she said.
"There would be no way of tracing where she might have been affected."
Ms Underwood is organising her Biggest Morning Tea event, which will be held in Rotary Park in Jimboomba, with the help of friend and North Maclean woman Barbara Lohrey.
"We just want to get the community together, there are a lot of people touched by cancer and a lot of types of cancer people don't know about," she said.
A raffle will be held during the event, which will run from 11am until 1pm on Saturday, June 6.
