Omeo Angus breeders Rick and Amanda Crisp look to the future

The Omeo grazier was on the way to work and had her three children aged under 18 at the time in the car.

"You have leukemia," the doctor said on loudspeaker.

In the lead up to the diagnosis, Mrs Crisp felt lethargic and had recently visited the bush nurse after she noticed swelling and bruising on her legs.

"The nurse said jokingly 'it sounds like you have leukemia' and 'you should have a blood test'," she said.

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Mrs Crisp, and her husband, Rick, were "flat out" and in the middle of shearing in Victoria's high country, so the need for a blood test was brushed aside until one afternoon when she fell ill and drove to the local hospital to have the tests done.

"After the doctor phoned me with the news, I dropped the kids at school, rang Rick and by 10.30pm that night I was in The Alfred where I was told I would be for 25 days, but that later turned into 42 days," she said.

After five rounds of high-intensity chemotherapy to stop the cancer, Mrs Crisp required a stem cell transplant.

The complex procedure takes healthy blood-forming cells from one person to replace with the stem cells of an ill person whose cells have been destroyed by radiation or high doses of chemotherapy.

"My sister was a 100 per cent match, so I was very lucky," Mrs Crisp said.

"Leading up to it, I had to have five days of total body radiation, so from the tip of my head to my toes, and after eight months of chemo beforehand, I'd never been so sick in my life."

The most challenging part was the 150 days in hospital and the isolation from her family, including her three children now aged 19, 17 and 12, as well as Mr Crisp.

"My kids couldn't see me because this was all during COVID," she said.

In another turn of tragic events, Mrs Crisp's father, Peter Humphries, also died while she was receiving treatment.

Mrs Crisp said she did not have the "all clear yet", and remained in remission, and noted the outpouring of love and support highlighted the strength of the tight-knit community in the Omeo district.

"I had two wonderful friends who cut off their beautiful, long hair and raised $15,000 for the Leukemia Foundation," she said.

"Food became a bit overwhelming because we had food everywhere, but it was really nice."

In another sign of support, a group of local farmers baled about 400 bales of hay on their property while Mr Crisp was down in Melbourne visiting his wife.

"They rang and said don't worry about coming back, it's baled," she said.

"We had people checking on stock and a local agent and a close mate who didn't want to be named who crutched our sheep.

"The messages, the gifts, the phone calls never stopped from people through from Benambra to Swifts Creek."

The March Mountain Calf Sales will be the first time the pair have sold under the Crisp Livestock banner.

It follows a decision to amalgamate their operation with Mr Crisp's parents, Viv and Jan Crisp.

"My father has dementia," Mr Crisp said.

The Crisps run their 400 breeders on about 1600 hectares, including two properties owned by the two generations, as well as 80 hectares leased in the district.

The family will sell about 200 mixed-sex Angus and Black Baldy mixed-sex calves, Lawson and Te Mania blood, including 125 steers, as well as some Hereford/Shorthorn-cross cattle, from eight to 10 months.

"For the last two years, we've kept every heifer because we've worked hard to build the herd," Mr Crisp said.

"This year we will sell about 70 or 80 heifers."

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