Milliner adds glamour to Warrnambool fashion fundraiser for cancer research

The show, held at the Warrnambool racecourse, was a fundraiser for multiple myeloma research and raised $2490 - double last year's efforts.

Raising money for cancer research is a cause close to Ms Hayes' heart after having two brain tumours since 2009. And after the surgery she endured, she wants to make sure there are resources for research in cancer.

Ms Hayes said the meningioma tumours had cost her some of her memories - especially her achievements in millinery - although she said she did remember things from her childhood.

She was inducted into the hall of fashion fame and won other awards for her work but has no memory of it.

"I was told a few years ago to Google myself, so I did. I didn't know until nearly two years that all this had happened to me," Ms Hayes said.

"I'd had a tumour but I was just on automatic.

"I had no idea what was going on. It was a whirlwind."

After the breakdown of her marriage and raising three children, Ms Hayes decided to do something for herself and ended up studying millinery.

She said during that time she probably had the tumour but didn't know it.

It was her dog, who probably sensed something and wouldn't leave her alone, that prompted her daughter to force her to see a doctor.

"I had no idea that I had the tumour. The day I was diagnosed was the day it was removed."

The tumours did stop Ms Hayes making hats for a while, but a few years ago she decided it was time get back into it.

"Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I was creative," she said. "I was creating sculptural pieces.

"By doing that, that's what's keeping me alive. It's a win-win for me. I'm able to give back."

Ms Hayes, a regular at Flemington, plans to be at the May Racing Carnival this year for the first time after relocating to Warrnambool about a year ago.

The imposing hat - featuring three leaping horses - has only recently returned from the runways of Paris and southern France, and Ms Hayes said it was time to pass it on.

"Where am I going to wear it? I don't do runways," she said.

Although in 2019 she did get to visit Milan to see one of her hats on the runway.

"It was a bit of an eye-opener."

Sunday's fashion parade, put on by CBD retailer Phinc, was for a cause that owner Tracey Togni said was close to her own heart.

Warrnambool's Karen Wilde, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2012, told the event it was a complex and individual disease which was incurable.

Over the past five years Ms Wilde has been involved in drug trials at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne in an attempt to bring the disease under control.

"The first trial did not have the expected result, so after 18 months it was decided to commence a different trial, which has produced results and put the disease to sleep," she said.

It involves travelling to Melbourne every two weeks. "This will be ongoing indefinitely until it stops working," Ms Wilde said.

At first she was unable to drive herself which meant her husband Bill had to go with her.

"During lockdown, this became quite a challenge when out walking waiting for me to complete treatment - he was not allowed to even sit down on a park bench. One day he was even moved on by the police by doing just that," Ms Wilde said.

But she is now able to drive herself to Melbourne for treatment, and was grateful the treatment was working for her.

Last year, Ms Wilde said was able to visit the laboratory at St Vincent's and meet the research team and see their commitment to finding a cure.

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