Women’s Fitness Australia — May 2017

34 womensfitness.com.au womensfitnessaustralia @womensfitnessmag @womensfitnessau

AS TOLD TO

JAYMIE HOOPER

ThinkFIT

IN AUGUST , my sister, Simone,

became the fi rst-ever woman to win the

Darwin jockeys premiership. A few days

later, she died. She fell during a race, and

her death broke me. I felt guilty that I was

still alive, but more than that, I struggled

with the idea of Simone missing out on

all the things that made her happy.

She was passionate about health

and fi tness and had to be both mentally

and physically strong for her career as a

jockey. After my sister’s accident I started

training and eating clean – taking all the

advice she had given me that I had

previously just brushed aside.

I ran for an hour a day, and I became

stronger. The pain I felt in my body eased

the pain in my heart, and it allowed me

to let o… steam. Fitness became my

escape and, for that hour, I could clear

my mind, cry all of my tears, and then

come home and be happy for my kids.

I started to feel the best I’d ever felt,

and although I felt major sadness, I

never lay around feeling sorry for myself.

Before my sister passed away, I’d just

had my third baby and I didn’t know what

I was doing with my life. I was a stay-at-

home mum and wanted to study and

build a career, but I always doubted myself.

After she died, though, I didn’t care about

any of that. I just wanted to be happy,

and since exercise was something that

made me happy, I decided to complete

a Certifi cate III in fi tness. I did it just for

me, and I didn’t care if I failed.

Once the people around me noticed

how much exercise was changing my life,

they started asking for my help, so I went

on to study personal training as well. I

never imagined people would want my

help, but I soon started my own business,

STAY Fitness & Wellbeing, to do just that.

While fi tness was able to give me

focus, my dad was lost after Simone’s

death, so when he mentioned he’d like to

give back to the National Jockeys Trust for

all of the help they provided after Simone’s

accident, we arranged a charity bike ride

from her birthplace, Streaky Bay in South

Australia, to Darwin, her fi nal resting place.

I wanted to make sure she was never

forgotten, and I knew the ride would help

my dad and give him a reason to keep

moving forward, so we got a team of 12

together and started training.

The ride was 3,052km long and took

us 26 days – one day for every year of

Simone’s life. We had no idea what we were

doing and we all laughed at how Simone

would have called us crazy, but we got

through the rain, freezing temperatures

and head winds and raised more than

$260,000 for the Trust. It was a way to

combine the love I have for my dad,

fi tness and helping others with the memory

of my sister, and it helped us to heal. Out

there, sleeping under the stars, I felt like

I could fi nally let Simone go. I fi nally felt

like I’d done enough to keep her memory

alive and that I could begin my life without

her. It was a very emotional moment.

There isn’t a day that goes by that

I don’t think about Simone, and I thank

her every day for the strength and courage

she left me with. Losing her has been the

hardest part of my life, but since that day,

everything else seems easy. My business

and my mission to create a happier and

healthier community is all for her, and

she’ll always be in my heart.

After losing her younger sister,

personal trainer Brooke Cupples,

34, decided to help people change

their lives for the better

If it’s

not okay,

it’s not

the end

WHAT’S YOUR

#LIFEMOTTO?

“Fitness became my escape and, for that hour,

I could clear my mind, cry all of my tears and

then come home and be happy for my kids”