Former Newcastle Knights player Mark Hughes was an idol for football fans across the Hunter during his time with the team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Eight years since retiring from football, and one cancer journey later, Hughes' idol status has reignited again- this time among those suffering cancer.
A year ago, Hughes was diagnosed with having a brain tumour. What ensued was a fierce round of treatment, including surgery to remove the avocado-sized lump of deadly tissue.
"It's a lot to deal with. You don't expect to be 37 years old and get told, 'You've got brain cancer'," he said.
"It was a real jolt."
While he's now "pretty much" back to normal, Hughes and his wife have since established the Mark Hughes Foundation. In just eight months they've raised $200,000.
The next chapter in Hughes' story involves his foundation donating just under $75,000 to the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) to help establish a new brain cancer biobank, which will be incorporated into the existing Hunter Cancer Biobank.
The biobank will see leftover pieces of cancerous tissue and blood samples (which have been donated by patients) stored at -150 degrees Celsius, and then studied by scientists.
"Rather than just throw it away, we can actually store it," said oncologist and clinical research fellow with the Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (HCRA), Dr Craig Gedye.
"It becomes an incredibly valuable resource that lets us think about new treatments, and it's the basis for a lot of discovery and research."
The Hunter Cancer Biobank was established in 2012 and is a collaboration between the HCRA, HMRI, University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, and Calvary Mater Hospital.
Dr Gedye said the new biobank will take a fresh approach to studying cancer cases.
"We're in the process of getting the paperwork done to be able to ask patients if we can continue to follow them through their cancer journey, and ask for small blood samples at different time points," he said.
"What we're finding out is cancers can change, and the cancer the surgeon may've cut out last year is different to the cancer that might be in a patient at a particular time.
"Being able to keep track of that moving target is an incredibly powerful technology."
The tissue samples taken are either frozen or embedded in wax after the operation.
Dr Gedye said more work still needs to be done.
"[Biobanks have] worked on an enormous amount of different cancers, but it's always a case of 'more is better'.
"The more samples we can collect from as many sites as possible, the better."
The Federal Government's Cancer Australia estimates that in 2014, 1,785 Australians will be diagnosed with brain cancer.
Mark Hughes said more attention needs to be payed to researching treatments and cures for the insidious disease.
"Brain cancer is under-funded and it's the biggest cancer killer of children and also of people under 40, so it's a really tough one," he said.
"With HMRI, we're looking to do research, we're looking to improve facilities, and with this biobank, it's a big step for us.
"I just want to try and help as many families as we can, so that this disease stops wrecking people's lives."
Mark Hughes and Dr Craig Gedye spoke to 1233 ABC Newcastle Drive presenter, Paul Bevan.
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