WBA’s Andy Kahle and her book Don’t Wait for the Green Light!

WHEN I first spoke to Therapy on Wheels founder and Wanneroo Business Association secretary Andy Kahle it was sometime in 2014 and I did not realise she was a breast cancer survivor.

I had been chasing some Perth Motorplex results and I thought with the name Andy I was going to be speaking to a bloke.

This is despite the fact I have a sister called Andy whose real name is Andrea, which is also Mrs Kahle’s given name.

Anyway, I was pretty impressed when I found out that Andy of Beechboro was a Perth Motorplex competitor, who in that year won the super sedan grand final after beating Neil Scott of Midland.

But it was only when I read her book Don’t Wait for the Green Light! that I realised how much Mrs Kahle’s determination to race a drag car for the first time motivated her in her recovery.

Her book has some powerful and humorous descriptions including how she felt when her surgeon said she had to make a decision about whether her whole breast would be removed.

“My brain could not process the simple thought of my figure changing so dramatically that I would go from a DD cup to the appearance that my head had been put on backwards,’’ she wrote.

“If you can’t comprehend what this looks like, grab a barbie doll and turn her head around to see what she looks like.

“I think if I was told that I would end up with ‘next to nothing’ I could cope but having nothing at all is just too much to deal with.’’

At the end of the book she says she now has the kind of attitude that only a person who has been through a life-changing experience can really understand.

“It might be an unusual thing to say, but I do consider myself to be very lucky to have had this experience.

“It’s like a fog has been lifted and I can see what I’m supposed to do with my life, and how to enjoy every minute of it.

“Just set your mind to something, grab life by the balls and go out there and do it.

“Don’t let anything hold you back.

“You only get one life and it’s pretty short.

“So, don’t waste it on anything or anyone who doesn’t make you feel you are the best person you can possibly be.’’

Therapy on Wheels is having a stall at the Wanneroo Business Expo on March 17 and the book Don’t Wait for the Green Light! is available through the Therapy on Wheels website.

Mrs Kahle’s business AndyK Design has been a member of the Wanneroo Business Association (WBA) since 2018 and before becoming secretary she served on the WBA board’s marketing committee for two years.

Established in 2017, Therapy on Wheels is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.