Stephen “Jake” O’Hara, was a very active, loud, strong, family and community orientated, dairy farmer. But most importantly to him, he was the most amazing dad to Lachlan and adoring and supportive husband to Colleen. A fabulous son to Margaret and Patrick (dec) and brother to Craig and Chris, and was loved and cherished by so many.

Jake died from Sporadic CJD on the 18^th April 2014, after a very fast, confusing and devastating 4 weeks, he was only 43 years old.

We raise money and awareness every year in memory of Jake, not because we want him to be remembered as dying from this awful disease, but in the hope that a cure or even treatment can be found to save others from the suffering Jake endured.

He is missed every day.

Total raised so far to support CJD Research in Australia – $65,611.26
2014 Memorial Donations – $12,132.75
City2Sea 2015 – $7,222.00
City2Sea 2016 – $12,100.00
City2Sea 2017 – $6,764.70
2019 Memorial Donations & CJD Fun Run – $15,361.81
2020 Memorial Donations & CJD Colour Blast – $7,210.00
2021 Memorial Donations – $1,530.00
2022 Memorial Donations – $2,010.00

Total donated to prion disease research in Australia – $62,221.26

2014 – $12,132.75 memorial donations as part of the following – CJDSGN Memorial Grant 2015 – City2Sea 2014 in memory of Catherine Heagerty, Sandra Kernahan, Ross Glasscock, Kenneth Renkin, Pamela Thomas and Stephen (Jake) O’Hara. $30,000.00 awarded for the purchase of equipment to Dr Matteo Senesi, Collins Laboratory, University of Melbourne.

2015 – City2Sea $7,222.00 as part of the following – CJDSGN Memorial Grant 2016 – City2Sea 2015 in memory of Sandra Kernahan, Stephen (Jake) O’Hara, Catherine Heagerty, Grasso family, Victoria Larielle, Barbara Childerhouse, Marilyn Hart and Pamela Thomas. CJDSGN Grant 1 for $25,000 awarded to Dr Victoria Lawson, Lawson Research Group, University of Melbourne. 

2016 & 2017 – City2Sea $18,864.70 as part of the following – 2018 CJDSGN Memorial Grant- City2Sea 2016 & 2017 in memory of Stephen (Jake) O’Hara (Team Jake) and Jenny Duckworth (Team Jenny) and others lost to CJD. $50,000.00 awarded to Dr Victoria Lawson, Lawson Research Group, University of Melbourne. 

2020 – $4,001.81 allocated to CJDSGN Memorial Award 2020 – CJD Fun Run 2019 in memory of Sandra Kernahan, Stephen (Jake) O’Hara, Lynne Norman and Norelle Edwards – and in memory of Anne O’Shea and others. $50,000 awarded to Dr Christiane Stehmann, ANCJDR, Melbourne. Project Title: ‘A pilot study to advance brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to improve the accuracy of early prion disease diagnosis’.

2021 – $20,000.00 allocated to CJDSGN Memorial Award 2021 in memory of Stephen ‘Jake’ O’Hara. $20,000 awarded to Dr. Eduard Willms, Hill Lab, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences. Project Title: ‘Novel inhibitors of extracellular vesicle formation: providing new insights into the spread and treatment of prion diseases’

Balance held to allocate – $3,390.00

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