
A new bike and a new challenge
When Mater ICU nurse Jennifer first decided to do the Noosa Triathlon with Smiling for Smiddy in 2014, she didn’t even own a bike.
The novice cyclist had only taken up exercising the year prior, focusing initially on running—a cycling event road bike had not been high on her list of priorities.
But once that problem was solved, Jen discovered that riding with the Smiling for Smiddy team brought together two of her passions—testing her limits and helping others.
Not being one to shy away from a challenge, Jennifer had already mastered a career change in her mid-30’s, moving from the business world to nursing.
Now, a new sporting challenge was on the horizon.
“In 2014, I’d done a few half marathons, but I was looking for a new challenge,” Jennifer said.
“A friend of mine had been joking that I should do the tri with her and, eventually, she stopped joking. So I thought, let’s have a crack!"
Despite being “a little bit petrified”, Jen successfully ticked off her first Noosa Tri that year but, unbeknown to her, her biggest test on the bike was yet to come.
In the 2015 event, 10 kilometres into the bike leg, she suffered what doctors would later describe as a suspected ovarian cyst rupture.
“I was in excruciating pain,” Jennifer recalled. “I thought if I vomited, I’d stop, but otherwise I’d push through the pain."