Mark Hamblin

“In September 2016, my brother Mark turned 33 and I also had my second child Oliver. For the first two weeks Mark didn’t come and visit his nephew as he had been feeling unwell and didn’t want to pass anything on. He ended up going to see a doctor and getting a blood test and this is where something was first flagged as not being right in his blood work. He then had a biopsy done on his lymph node (you can see this in one of the photos. This is the only photo I have of him and Oliver). It was here that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma. He was sent to have a PEP scan and it was discovered that it was all through his kidney and liver. He was admitted to hospital as a few days later it was apparent his kidney and liver were failing and that was most concerning to the doctors. Luckily, with medication and prayer they were able to improve his kidney and liver function, however, he then got an infection. Within 4 hours the infection spread to his body and he passed away on the 17th of October, only 3 weeks after his diagnosis. 

“This was such a shock at how fast it all happened. Mark was a handsome, young and sporty person, who absolutely loved nature. He loved surfing and fishing and being with his mates. It just didn’t make any sense that this could happen so fast.

“A short time after I made my first In Memory candle, in honour of my beautiful, blue-eyed brother. Since then I have made over 2000 In Memory candles and it’s always my honour and joy to make these for families who are grieving the loss of a loved one. 

“I would like to donate a portion from every candle I sell to the Melanoma Research Foundation, as a way for giving back and hopefully contribute to finding medication and a cure to this type of cancer.”