Chelsea Bury and partner Greg Shepherd with the Stitch-themed rally car. Photos: Supplied.
Chelsea Bury’s Stitch-themed rally car turns heads across Shellharbour — but its true power lies in raising hope and funds for kids living with kidney disease, a cause close to her heart after a lifetime of health battles and the devastating loss of her best friend.
Chelsea will drive the decorated car in the 2025 Kidney Kar Rally from Bathurst from 6 September which supports Kidney Health Australia to raise funds for the Kidney Health 4 Youth Program.
Born with kidney complications and undergoing two kidney transplants, she also lost her best friend Amy Cameron to the disease in 2023 and is dedicating this rally in her memory.
“I basically grew up in and out of the hospital until I was about 12, and then went onto dialysis,” Chelsea said.
“I had my first transplant in August 2013 and that one was from my dad, which made a lot of news articles.
“It was the first adult-to-child different blood type transplant in Australia at the time, 12 years ago.”
She said the kidney lasted a couple of years, until complications saw her body reject it, putting her back on dialysis.
“I then transplanted in Jan 2020, just before COVID basically shut down any chance of getting a transplant for a couple of years,” she said.
“I was the second last one at Prince of Wales Hospital to receive a transplant.”
Now 26, Chelsea said her journey hadn’t been as smooth as most post-transplant patients due to battling other health issues that impacted other organs, often keeping her in and out of hospital.
It was a similar story for her longtime friend Amy.
“Both of us attended kidney kids camps growing up – we met 17 years ago now at one of the camps,” she said.
With Amy living on the NSW/Victorian border, and Chelsea living in Sydney until moving to Shellharbour last year, the girls would either see each other at the annual camp, speak via FaceTime or later fly or drive to see each other in person.
Amy had her first transplant while young, which failed a year after she received it, and this was followed by years of at-home and then in-hospital dialysis.
Chelsea said after complications, Amy wasn’t able to have another transplant, with longtime dialysis leading her bones and organs to become calcified, resulting in her needing a wheelchair and constant pain relief.
“There was no quality of life left whatsoever, unfortunately, so she decided to go down the palliative care path and stop treatment,” she said.
“On the 10th of August, 2023, she passed away.”
Amy was just 27.
Amy and Chelsea were part of Kidney Kids Camps.
Both girls did the Kidney Kar Rally each year, with Amy doing it alongside being on a machine for eight to 10 hours every night.
“Amy passed away two days before the rally started in 2023,” she said.
“It was a very emotional rally, because everyone knew her and treated her like a daughter or sister.
“Amy’s parents held off holding the funeral until the rally was finished, because a lot of us would have just left the rally.
“They knew that and that it meant a lot for us to attend the rally for Amy.”
She said the rally finished an hour from Amy’s hometown, allowing participants to attend the memorial.
For Chelsea, it was Bathurst-based family who got her first involved in the rally and today she’s an organiser of the event.
She said the rally route changed each year, with this year’s 5000 km route from Bathurst to Dubbo via Port Macquarie.
Proceeds support Kidney Health Australia’s Youth Program, which includes the Kidney Kids Camp, fun days and peer support programs.
“At the camps, siblings come along so the parents get a respite break, and siblings get to meet others who have had to watch their sister or brother go in and out of hospital,” she said.
“It’s also really important for kidney kids to meet others going through the same thing.
“That’s why I continue to do the rally, because I was in that boat 20-odd years ago and met kids who I will forever be friends with.
“I always want to make sure kidney kids know they’re not alone. At the end of the day, us big kids are fundraising to help out these little kids.”
When Chelsea takes to the rally, she’ll be driving in her Stitch-decorated rally car, which also features a photo of the friends.
“Amy loved Disney and Stitch, so that’s why I themed it that way,” she said.
“It’s my daily car as well, so I drive it around the shops. It’s a head-turner, which is good because it gets a conversation going about why we do it.”
After a callout for Woolworths’ Lilo and Stitch tokens, she was inundated with offers.
She’s also calling on donations to ensure she meets her fundraising target for the rally, with activities having included Bunnings barbecues, bake sales, collecting bottles for recycling and business sponsorship.
Kidney Kar Rally will be held from 6 to 13 September, leaving from Bathurst. Supporters can donate to Chelsea’s fundraising page.
