Why this Dubbo family will be marching for clinical trials to beat melanoma

This is the message from Paul Reid, whose son Tim Reid died in 2013 after melanoma spread to his lymph nodes.

Tim - who is survived by his dad, his twin brother Mark, and mother Genelle - was applying for a job as a jackaroo in the Northern Territory when a mandatory health check identified a mole on his left shoulder blade that looked suspicious.

It was found that the mole was cancerous and the disease had spread to the lymph nodes in his right armpit. Tim was only 19 and about to start his career.

"Ironically at this stage he was not sick at all," Mr Reid told the Daily Liberal.

Tim underwent numerous treatments including removing all his lymph nodes by surgery. A biopsy indicated there were tumours present in two nodes.

Tim recovered at hospital in Sydney and then underwent regular check-ups.

He was given the all-clear and took a job at a horse stud in the Hunter Valley where he worked for seven years, before the cancer came back.

"He loved working with horses. He was well and fit and enjoyed life on [the horse stud]," his dad said.

"The regular three-month and then six-month checkups in Sydney were maintained, scans, blood tests, body checks ... "

In 2011 Tim moved home to Dubbo and bought a small house that he began to renovate. However in 2012 he began to feel very sick.

"Rather than pneumonia which we all thought he had, he and we were advised that he had melanoma tumours right through his body that had metastasised in the 6 months since the February checkup," Mr Reid said.

"The message was that he would be lucky to see out three months but there was a possibility he may (if he wished) access a trial for some new drugs the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA) were trialling."

Tim was willing to try anything and he immediately began to see positive results after being accepted into and beginning a trial.

However, the cancer eventually found a way around the drug, and Tim commenced a new trial.

"The trial required a lot of time in Sydney. At one stage we rented a unit and lived in Sydney for a month as the treatment meant that we needed to be close to Westmead Hospital," Mr Reid said.

"Tim was often sick from the side effects of the drugs, and often temperature spike and nausea would mean time in emergency room or hospital."

But Tim was determined to fight and "kept a smile on his face most of the time", even though there were the occasional "very low periods".

In mid-2012 treatment options were running out, and he immunotherapy programs that are available now were in their infancy. The family decided to take holiday in New Zealand - a last hurrah.

They went away for two weeks and they made the most of it - taking jet boat rides, riding on helicopters up glaciers and playing with snow.

When they came home, Tim sorted out his affairs and they had some family photos taken, but he still held out hope that something in the way of a new drug or treatment might save his life.

"On the 23rd of December 2013, two days before Christmas, just after his 29th birthday he died at our home, with family and friends around him. He gave it a fair crack but the melanoma beat him," Mr Reid said.

The Reid family will be walking in the annual Melanoma March on Saturday, March 9 at the River Foreshore on Tubba-Gah Country, Dubbo, to raise money for immunotherapy and other drugs, such as those that helped Tim live longer.

All money raised will go to the Melanoma Institute Australia.

Mr Reid wants to raise awareness about the importance of funding the institute's cutting-edge trials.

"The institute is heading towards a target of zero deaths from melanoma, which I thought was a pipe dream four or five years ago, but now I think it's possible because they're doing amazing things," Mr Reid said.

He wants people to practise prevention - sunscreen, hats, long sleeves and sunglasses - to get their skin checked regularly, and for more accommodation to be made available to families of patients travelling to Sydney for treatment.

Find out more about how you can donate and participate in the Melanoma March at https://melanomamarch.org.au/ The Dubbo march will begin at 9am.