By Therese Henkin from the Times
If there’s one thing Mark Beetham is, it’s a fighter. The 52-year-old has bravely battled bowel cancer for eight years, all while being a loving husband and father. He was diagnosed five months after he and wife Alison welcomed their first child Lachlan into the world. “It’s been a long, tough road,” Mark says. The past eight years have seen him go through years of chemotherapy and 15 different operations.
Now Mark is sadly losing his battle. With the uncertainty of how much time Mark has left hanging over their heads, he and Alison wanted to create one last family memory for their children. With the help of the Race4Life Trust and a lot of encouragement from their Totara Hospice nurse, they were able to make this happen.
The Race4Life Trust fulfils the wishes of palliative care patients, like Mark. This time, the wish was for Mark and his family to spend some much needed quality time in Queenstown. So earlier this month the Beetham family were flown down south for three days. The Race4Life Trust organised it all, and the Beetham family didn’t have to pay for a thing. The family were given a full itinerary packed with fun activities, dinner plans and downtime.
“The trip was mostly for the kids, to give them some amazing memories,” says Mark. “I am glad I got to show them Queenstown and spend that time with them.” Alison says the family had never been able to take the kids on trips because Mark was always undergoing chemo or another surgery.
“We never knew what was going to happen, whether Mark would go downhill in the meantime,” Alison says. “I’m so glad we didn’t miss the boat on taking our kids away for one small holiday with their dad.”
They say they would encourage all palliative care patients to take advantage of the wonderful service provided to them by Race4Life. “We almost didn’t apply, but you honestly couldn’t put a price on the amazing moments we had during the trip,” Alison says.
➤➤For more information on how to make a wish with Race4Life, visit https://race4life.org.nz/apply-for-awish/
➤➤Race4Life are also always looking for donations, volunteers and sponsors.
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