Kerri was awarded the Stawell Local Hero Award at yesterday's official Australia Day ceremony.

Since beginning her breast cancer journey in 1999, she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the disease.

Her dedication and determination has earned her the respect of her peers, fellow breast cancer patients and survivors, and members of the Stawell community.

Kerrie has been a member of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) since 2007 and has been involved in many key projects and advocacy activities.

A list of some of her BCNA involvement includes:

Facilitating the Stawell Breast Cancer Support Group

Making significant contributions to several fundraising events to raise local awareness and to support the work of BCNA

Training as a BCNA Community Liason

Contributing to BCNA publications

As further support for women battling cancer, Kerrie instigated the Scarf Bank at Grampians Community Health. The project offers a selection of head scarves for women who have experienced hair loss following chemotherapy treatment. This is a free service that allows women to borrow scarves throughout their journey and return them when they are finished.

Even more impressively, last year she and a friend took part in the BCNA Pink Pedal Challenge - a fund raising bike ride through Vietnam and Cambodia.

The duo successfully pedalled 300 kilometres over 11 days across the two countries. Twenty people from across Australia were part of the group that completed the cycle and raised a combined total of $141,000.

Although continuing to undergo treatment for cancer, Kerrie isn't one to be stopped in her tracks, at times adopting a strenuous training campaign to ensure she was as fit as possible for the trip.