On Wednesday he marked the anniversary of his partner Jacinda’s death. With the pain still raw, Mr Malady was forced to face a second tragedy when his father Bill also lost his battle with cancer last year.

“Four years ago I lost my partner to cancer, that’s one of the main reasons I jumped on relay,” he said of Jacinda, who lost her battle with melanoma.

“In 2009 she was first diagnosed and given the all-clear in 2010 and then in 2011 she was re-diagnosed with it, it had spread and she was gone within six months.

“She was the main reason while I jumped on board.”

The Cally chef, who will oversee his third Relay For Life on Friday, said his father’s fighting spirit as inspirational.

”He fought it for eight years, he was a tough old bugger,” Mr Malady said.

“He had bowel and liver cancer, last year it spread to the brain. He put up a bit of a fight, he had two brain tumors removed within three months in the same spot, he never gave up, he fought right to the end. He was pretty inspirational, dad.

“He had all his treatment in Ballarat and managed to raise $107,000 for the new oncology ward up there at one stage a couple of years ago through raffles, auctions and fund-raising, he wanted to give back to the hospital, it saved him for a few years.”

Mr Malady described Friday’s Relay For Life, which will be held at the Deakin University oval, as an emotional experience, as survivors, friends and families came together.

“We’re celebrating the survivors and remembering the ones that you’ve lost as well,” he said.

“With the fund-raising you’re trying to raise as much money as you can to try to make a little bit of a difference, that’s the main reason that I do it, so that one day we might have a cure or at least some better treatment options.”

Fund-raising has always been a major goal for Mr Malady, whose team last year raised more than $5000, earning a Cancer Council research grant award named in Jacinda’s honour.

So soon after his father’s death it was too difficult to put his own relay team this year, instead he will jump on the Homeseeka team in between organising commitments.

Mr Malady said there was about eight people on Warrnambool’s Relay For Life committee, with planning for the annual event beginning in June or July each year.

“We’re always looking for more people to make our job easier, it’s a big event to try to organise,” he said.