Chanelle Martin holding the surfboard she’s using to raise money for cancer research in memory of her grandfather. Photos: Supplied.
Chanelle Martin is in the home stretch of a month-long campaign in memory of her grandfather.
Every day in February, regardless of the temperature or the swell, she’s been heading to a nearby beach and surfing.
Her campaign was inspired by her grandfather, who died in late 2025 after a battle with leukaemia.
“I was obviously going through grief and trying to find a way to deal with that,” Chanelle said.
“I’d always liked the idea of surfing, but I’d never really given it a crack. My pop was the kind of guy who would make something good out of something bad. I guess trying to do that.”
In her youth, the “typical Canberran” would escape the big city and head to the coast during the summer holidays before moving to the South Coast.
“I’d always admired it,” Chanelle said of surfing.
“I just always thought, ‘Oh, I’m too old’, or ‘I’m not fit enough’ or whatever it was.”
After a few days on the water, it all “started to click”, Chanelle said, as she learnt the new skill.
Throughout the month, she’s been raising funds for cancer research at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse through the online SurFebruary platform.
She chose the platform after seeing it on her social media.
“I thought, ‘What a weird coincidence that it’s for cancer research and it’s surfing’. It just seemed perfect for me.”
Chanelle says it’s a “spiritual experience” to have some quiet time in the water, which has helped her grieve after losing her grandfather.
After starting with a $500 goal, Chanelle is closing in on the $2000 mark.
“I think he would hate all of the attention,” she said.
“I think he would be really proud that his name is what’s inspired a lot of people to be really generous.”
It’s an organisation that is close to Chanelle’s heart, having supported her friend.
“Everyone’s affected by cancer in some way … There’s my pop, there’s my friends who have been affected by it.
“There’s people that I’ve lost because of it.”
As she eyes the home stretch of her month-long fundraiser, Chanelle was quick to say she’d caught the “bug” for surfing and was planning to keep heading to the water even after her campaign ended.
“Not to be all hippy-dippy, but it is true that it’s a spiritual experience to just be in the water with nothing but your thoughts,” she said.
“[It lets you] reconnect with yourself. It really has helped my mood.”
Chanelle said although raising as much money as possible was the focus of her challenge, it had changed how she viewed the world.
“At the end of the day, I was out there making a fool of myself … Now, I sort of have a clue what I’m doing.
“Someone who is really good [at something] is never going to look down at me and go, ‘Oh, look at that, they don’t know what they’re doing’.
“If anything, it’s ‘Good on them for having a go. Especially when it’s for charity.”
You can follow and support Chanelle’s efforts on the SurFebruary platform.
