Man on a mission to find a cure
"I thought it was really sad that other kids died of cancer." Isaac Kingston
Conversations at the dinner table are a little different for the Kingston household. It’s not about what happened at school or whether homework has been completed.
For Isaac Kingston, 8, it’s about how he can cure cancer.
The Rangitikei boy, from Hunterville, has listened to the harrowing tales of his mother’s childhood as a cancer kid and was forced to watch as the disease affected his grandmother and claimed his grandfather. Now, he’s leading a crusade. And he thought outside the box to get children his age involved this Daffodil Day. In a bid to raise funds, Isaac challenged pupils at Hunterville School to a Lego competition.
The support from classmates was overwhelming, with more than 80 pupils taking part. Everything from helicopters and hospitals to dump trucks and boats lined the school’s hall as their creative expression came to the fore.
It’s a cause that Isaac said was close to his heart after he heard his mother was diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia, aged 3.
‘‘When mum told me she had cancer as a kid, I was sad,’’ he said.
‘‘She said that other kids had the same treatment, and the same cancer, and they died. But she didn’t.
‘‘I thought it was really sad that other kids died of cancer.’’
Doctors gave Anna Kingston the all-clear when she was 18, but told her she would never have children.
‘‘I’m now blessed with three boys, something I never thought would happen,’’ she said.
Just after her third son was born, the family were again rocked with news Anna Kingston’s father had severe melanoma.
He died in 2013 and Isaac and his siblings witnessed his declining health. Anna Kingston felt it was important not to shield her three children from the harsh reality of cancer.
He was in a hospital in bed in the lounge at home, barely able to speak.
‘‘He had become quite different in appearance, but I thought it was important that my children saw him like that.’’
Isaac said the Lego competition wouldn’t be a one-off. Plans were already in place for a bigger and better Lego extravaganza next year.