Emily goes camping
I am Emily. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a mum. I am a wife. I am a friend and I am living with cancer.
Sometimes I lose myself and it feels like now all I am is someone living with cancer. So, when the Race4Life Trust granted our wish for a campervan holiday around Northland, it allowed us to forget cancer and just enjoy each day together as a family.
In May 2016, aged 29, I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Stage 4 meant that the cancer had spread beyond my breast and into my body, making itself at home in my pelvis bone. Once breast cancer progresses to stage 4 it is then termed incurable as the disease is now in my system.
At diagnosis our youngest daughter, Mabel, was 4 weeks old and our eldest, Ada, was nearly 3. For the next few months it was pretty smooth sailing in terms of treatment and side effects. Last Christmas, life started to return to normal.
Over the Easter school holidays, we decided to do a road trip around Northland, one of the last places in New Zealand I hadn””t visited. We borrowed our friends’ caravan and started the long drive from Blenheim to Auckland but unfortunately, we didn’t get any further than that. After a month of ongoing headaches, I ended up, on Easter Sunday, at Auckland hospital A & E. The resulting CT scan showed lesions in my brain. That meant no more road trip, and no flying until my brain swelling had gone down. The Northland road trip instead became a road trip back to Wellington for a week of whole brain radiation.
Fast forward a few months and my headaches were still continuing. Another CT scan. The radiation hadn’t worked. So now I am on Capecitabine, a chemo drug that does manage to cross the blood brain barrier and gets to my brain lesions. A lot of other chemo drugs don’t manage to do this. Around this time, I heard back from Race4Life, and our dream to tour Northland was reignited. They were on board!
Northland TAKE 2!
Race4life covered everything down to a voucher from New World Victoria Park for our week’s food, through to a fuel voucher from Z, to keep the campervan topped up.
This time we flew from Blenheim to Auckland and after a night staying with family we picked up our beautiful campervan, provided by Volkswagen NZ and headed to our first stop, Tutukaka. There, Schnappa Rock Cafe provided us with our evening meal and with very full bellies we settled in for our first night in the campervan.
The following day we received the disappointing news that our day trip to the Poor Knights had been cancelled due to strong winds. We took advantage of the free time and spent the day exploring the many beautiful beaches and bays of the east coast, before continuing on to Kerikeri to visit some old friends.
It was then time to continue north towards Cape Reinga. On the way we stopped in Kaitaia for a delish late lunch at Birdie Cafe. Wow! A magic experience for all. From Cape Reinga we headed south, down the west coast and made it to the Rawene ferry just in time! Next stop, Opononi.
Opononi Holiday Park was a fantastic place to stay, right opposite the beach! Ada made friends with the resident lawn mowing goats, while Mabel enjoyed the trampoline and swings. That night we were treated to another amazing meal, this time courtesy of the Copthorne hotel. The welcoming sign “Superstars” greeted us as we entered the restaurant. Our host, Pip, was very warm and welcoming and had arranged a special private evening visit to Tane Mahuta for the family. We even had our own private guide. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience and incredibly moving. I loved that our girls got to experience this with us.
The next morning we continued along the Kauri Coast to our final Northland destination, Matakana. Along the way we stopped at the stunning Kai Iwi lakes and the Kauri Museum which was surprisingly very interesting. Matakana Market Kitchen, provided us with a stunning meal on our return.
After a stop at Goat Island, we headed to Auckland to catch Matilda. Tickets were kindly donated by Facilities Auckland. The show was simply stunning. A fine finish to an amazing holiday.
I am Emily. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a mum. I am a wife. I am a friend and I am living with cancer.
A message from the General Manager
PHEW!! What a busy few months!
A huge thank you to all our supporters who have shown such loyalty throughout this time. In this issue you will read about the wonderful efforts of our Marathon team, who did well in not only raising awareness of our work but in raising a considerable sum for our wonderful Trust. A fortuitous meeting with Head of Event Management, at AUT, Alison Booth, culminated in a whole host of events run by students in early October. All proceeds from these events went to Race4Life. An Evening with Nadia Lim in late November went seamlessly at the Ellerslie Racecourse with 200 guests attending the book Launch of Nadia’s new book, Let’s Eat.
In this edition we have some beautiful wishes to share with you. Both Alex and I are stunned with the generosity we witness on a daily basis. We truly believe we have the best jobs in the world!! Thank you for being a part of our journey. Our growth this year has been significant and our exposure to the kindness and compassion in communities all over New Zealand has been heart warming. Thank you for your support.
Enjoy the stories.
The Mighty Marathon Machine
Over 60 fabulous supporters took to the Auckland streets on Sunday 29th of October to run distances between 5-42km for our wonderful Trust. Not only did they raise awareness, thanks to the distinct team T shirts, but they also managed to raise $40K for the Race4Life Trust. Amazing!!
The Behind the Scenes team set up a fabulous tent site on Victoria Park where all the weary runners gathered after the race. They were refreshed with goodies supplied by New World Eastridge, Bakers Delight St Heliers, Ripe Deli, Fenchurch Liquor and Synthetic Technologies. A huge thank you to our wonderful supporters and sponsors. You all completely ROCK!!
Partnership with AUT
In June this year, Viv James had the fortune to meet Alison Booth, the Head of Department for Event Management at AUT. The Event Management course designed by Alison gives students the practical experience of creating and running an event.
With 58 students in all, there were a total of 8 groups who hosted a whole range of events in early October. The students not only raised awareness of the work of our Trust but also managed to raise over $5000.
A huge THANK YOU to all the students for their energy and passion. Alison what a pleasure it has been.
Partnership with Targa
Race4Life is very excited to announce a partnership with Ultimate Rally Group (URG).
URG, with Peter Martin at the helm, runs the annual Targa Rallies throughout New Zealand and hosts the two yearly Silverfern Rally event.
URG have invited Race4Life to be their charity of choice for the next 5 years.
With Race4Life’s association with motor sport, it does seem a very comfortable fit and one we foresee as being fortuitous for all concerned.
We would like to thank URG for this great opportunity and we look forward to working with Peter and his crew, promoting the wonderful work of our Trust.
THANK YOU URG!
An Evening with Nadia
What a treat it was to work with the lovely Nadia Lim, promoting her new book Lets Eat and raising funds for the Trust.
Together with Paper Plus, Race4Life hosted, An Evening with Nadia, at the Ellerslie Racecourse’s Northern Room. Aziz Al Saafin, our most entertaining MC, guided our 200 guests through the process of the evening. All those present received a most generous Goody Bag supplied by Nadia and her team. Fenchurch Liquor provided a wonderful discount to Race4Life allowing all our guests to enjoy a complimentary drink on arrival. A gorgeous three course meal chosen especially by Nadia was the highlight of the evening. The raffle was a wonderful success with four draws, thanks to the generosity of our loyal sponsors.
A Day to inspire with Rob Matthews
Ill health prevented blind athlete Rob Matthews from sharing his story with patients at our planned, Day to Inspire event, in October this year. Sadly the occasion had to be cancelled.
Rob and his gorgeous wife Sarah did persevere to try and make it happen, but it was not to be.
We wish Rob, Sarah and their two children Thomas and Mollie all the very best for the tough road ahead.
A Big THANK YOU From Miriam
I wish to thank Alex, Viv, Rhonda and all t
he team at Race4Life who worked tirelessly to make my special wish come true. I also wish to thank all of the companies involved and their wonderful staff for being so generous in creating such special memories for my sister Liz and I to share. A huge thank you to Oceania Helicopters, Cafe Miko at Botanical Gardens, Air New Zealand, KiwiRail, Sudima Christchurch Airport, Corporate Cabs Christchurch, Greymouth Taxis, The Ashley Hotel Greymouth, DP1 Cafe Greymouth, Welcome Aboard Trams Christchurch, Bunsen Cafe Christchurch, Auckland Coop Taxis and Sand Dunz Beach Cafe Muriwai Beach.
Everyone involved were so welcoming, generous, and kind-hearted. I was completely blown away by so many people who had open hearts and arms, giving so readily. Our experience was filled with so many beautiful memories. There are so many amazing people in our spectacular country.
We will always remember these special times. I cannot thank you all enough. I wish you all love, joy and peace.
Juliet hits Town
Juliet Hubbard is a young 32 year old woman from Christchurch, who is suffering from life limiting Cystic Fibrosis.
Life for Juliet is a real roller coaster and this prompted her to contact Race4Life Trust with a special wish. Juliet’s wish enquiry read:
“My wish is to go to Auckland to meet my fav TV actors from Shortland Street!! I really enjoy watching this programme each night. Some may think this is a silly thing to want, but to me this would be super special”
The wonderful people at South Pacific Pictures came on board to grant Juliet’s wish.The film crew welcomed Juliet and her husband with open arms and invited this lovely couple to spend the day on the set with Juliet’s favourite stars. A rental car was gifted by Hitch Rentals to ensure Juliet could stick to her busy itinerary. Meals at the Orbit and The Depot were complimented with a free pass for the Sky Tower experience. Thank you Sky City!! The Grand Millennium Hotel provided a great place of retreat after their adventures. A Trip to Spookers polished off the trip! That story is for another time!
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