When June Williams collapsed on the floor of her Kojonup home in 2021, she couldn’t begin to think what it might be.

“I know what pain is and this is something next level,” she says.  What started as a relatively normal day ended with her getting airlifted to Fiona Stanley Hospital, where she remained for the following five days.

It wouldn’t be until November, over a month later, that June found out what was wrong. She had stage four lung cancer and was given six months to live.

Sitting in her lounge room bathed in natural light, June’s voice never falters as she recalls that day five years ago. Hands folded in her lap, back straight and eyes warm, the strength she radiates reflects her no-nonsense upbringing. “Growing up on a farm, and growing up in the country, has really given me a lot of values because it’s all about hard work,” she says.

June grew up on her parents’ pig farm in Canning Vale, once considered a rural district. She lights up as she remembers when her and her older sister wanted new dolls. “We were told we had to work for them, so if we wanted them, we had to get a job,” she says.

So the girls, aged 10 and 11, got a job disbudding carnations during the summer school holidays, where they would sit in the harsh summer heat waiting for the sprinklers to turn on. “The value of working hard, and that you don’t get anything for nothing … has made a massive difference to me,” she says.

With the importance of becoming a good person instilled at Christian Sunday school, June started doing ministry work. This ultimately took her to a rural Thai village near the border of Laos, where she, her then husband and sons lived and worked on and off from 1988 to 2001.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I have tended to find the person that is struggling … anybody that was an outlier or on the fringes I tended to gravitate towards them and help them,” she says.

After Thailand, she had several roles within the Federal Government, finishing at the Drought and Flood Agency after her cancer diagnosis.

Making a difference

Her desire to help others didn’t end there, however. She agreed to become one of two voices for Cancer Council WA’s Find Cancer Early campaign, which launched in August. A few years earlier, June had filled in a box on their website indicating she was happy to share her experience. This led to radio and press interviews. When Cancer Council WA was planning their next campaign, they knew exactly who to ask.

The campaign specifically focusses on Indigenous communities and regional WA, as they account for almost 60 per cent of all cancer diagnosis in Western Australia. June believes people in the regions need better access to medical resources, something her own experience has only enhanced.

She takes a sip of water and a deep breath before casting her mind back to the day she left Fiona Stanley with no answers or results, just a simple note to come back in six weeks.

Determined not to wait around, June was able to get an appointment with an adrenal specialist through a gastric surgeon who had operated on her the previous year. In September of 2021, June discovered she had an adrenal mass after experiencing pain under her rib cage at the Toodyay races. She thought maybe it was something similar. Cancer wasn’t even a consideration.

Her husband Steve joins her in the living room, showing photos and notes, putting together a timeline from that day at the races. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and so much of that heart belongs to June.

The day of her appointment, the adrenal specialist put the results of a PET scan on the monitor. “All those areas that light up red are really bad June,” she recalls him saying. Looking towards Steve, a knowing smile on her face, she says: “It was like a Christmas tree.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” Steve says, eyes locked on his wife’s, trying to not get emotional. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

After a biopsy and an appointment with an oncologist, June finally got an answer, one she never expected. “You’ve got stage four lung cancer, you’ve got six months to live.”

Five years on, June has clearly defied the odds. Her story is one of determination and strength. “She just takes life by the horns and goes with it,” says her friend and former colleague, Michelle Librizzi. Having recently had a lung cancer diagnosis herself, she admires June’s attitude. “She makes every effort to get up and be present.”

This is despite a rollercoaster ride through treatment. June’s first dose of chemotherapy was only supposed to take six hours; she sat there for 12 after she experienced a severe allergic reaction. It was something she was told she would need to do 35 more times.  “I just thought ‘I couldn’t endure one, how am I going to do 36 of these’,” she says. “That’s when we said ‘if I’ve only got six months to live, I’m not living like this’.”

Living life to the fullest

June then elected to do immunotherapy, though she was advised it was not going to be the best fit. It helped stop the tumours from growing, but after 18 months she couldn’t handle how it was impacting her quality of life.

She knew she wanted to get onto a drug trial. Her persistence led her to being one of five people included in a clinical trial with Linear Clinical, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Sydney University. After a few months of testing medicines, dosages, trial and error, June has been taking the drugs for just over two years now.

Steve’s smile is big as he looks towards June. “When she got diagnosed … ‘I said whatever you want to do before you die, we’re going to do it’. We’ve been everywhere, it’s cost us a fortune,” he says. “Be with family, be with friends, travel, buy a dog, whatever you want to do, because that’s all you can do.”

Having always wanted to write a book, June also found time to write her memoir, You Have 6 Months, which was published last year.

Asked what she wants her story to bring others, the answer comes quick. “Have hope,” she says. “Ultimately, there’s hope; there’s something being developed nearly every day.”