The age-old proverb — “Time is meant for living in the present” — resonates deeply with Melbourne resident Emily Lahey, who is facing a harsh reality. Diagnosed with NUT carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer with a mere six to nine months average survival time, Lahey is acutely aware of the preciousness of time.
This weekend, Lahey will auction off chunks of her remaining time to strangers in Sydney as part of a living artwork called ‘Time to Live’. As visitors spend time with Lahey during this event, a projection of a timer will count down from three minutes, symbolising the passing away of their moments together.
The goal of this “once-in-a-lifetime” experience is to spotlight the emotional and psychological burdens of living with or being connected to someone with a terminal diagnosis. This also underscores the need for cancer research.
While speaking with 7NEWS.com.au, Lahey revealed that she was fit and healthy, running 5km to 10km a day before her diagnosis at 27. “I certainly didn’t think cancer was a possibility,” she expressed to the media portal.
Initially, the 31-year-old experienced prolonged sinusitis and headaches. But when she began losing vision in one eye, doctors discovered a mass “about the size of a cricket ball” across her sinuses and skull bone.
The rare cancer does not respond well to standard cancer treatments like chemotherapy, leaving her medical team unsure about how to proceed. Genetic testing helped narrow options of an experimental treatment known as BET inhibitors, but she had to wait until her condition worsened enough to be deemed eligible for the government’s special access scheme.
“It has allowed me extra time that I wouldn’t have thought I’d have, and that’s something both me and my family are very grateful for,” she added.
While doctors are uncertain about how long Lahey will survive, she makes the most of each precious day.
Talking to the outlet, Emily Lahey expressed, “Everything comes and goes in waves. It’s like being on a constant rollercoaster. There were times that I really struggled to even look at the following day, to the end of the week, to the next month.”
“As time has gone on, it’s giving me a little bit more confidence to be able to look out towards the end of the year,” she added.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Australia, as per the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Despite this, Lahey believes it is something people often assume won’t affect them or their loved ones. She went on to say, “Time is incredibly valuable. Cancer can take too much of it.”
Through this personal experience, Lahey also hopes to inspire others to re-evaluate their priorities and emphasise the importance of ongoing cancer research.
As per AIHW data, nearly 70 percent of Australians survived at least five years after diagnosis by the late 2010s. Emily Lahey said, “Until survival rates approach 100 percent, our community must continue supporting new, progressive cancer research.”
Meanwhile, the art experience is an initiative by the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF), which funds cancer research across all types of cancers, including rare cancers.
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