Cancer campaigner

Cancer campaigner

Blair Vining still has a few items to tick off his bucket list. Since being diagnosed with terminal cancer in October last year, the 38-year-old Southlander has been devoting his remaining time to making sure other Kiwis don’t have to go through the same struggles he has.

This past Saturday, he and wife Missy flew to Auckland to hear the announcement of the Government’s Cancer Action Plan.

The plan included a pledge for an extra $60 million to Pharmac to fund cancer medicines, the establishment of a Cancer Control Agency, and the appointment of a national director of cancer control.

For the past seven months, Vining has been lobbying for the creation of such an agency, starting a petition that has been signed by more than 140,000 New Zealanders.

He got his own cancer diagnosis almost a year ago, a few weeks after returning to work from a six-month layoff.

Back in February 2018, he had an operation to correct an issue with his bow legs, with the pain it had caused in his knees forcing him to retire from rugby in 2017.

From 1998 to 2016, he had been a fixture in the second row for his beloved Midlands club in Winton, racking up 284 club matches over the course of his career.

Despite the constant ribbing from teammates and friends, he has remained a staunch Chiefs supporter, ever since moving from Waikato with his family as a 13-year-old.

When he got back to work driving tractors at a farm in Otapiri, he was having ongoing issues with shortness of breath.

‘‘I’d been fit and healthy . . . when I went back to work I thought the shortness of breath was just because I hadn’t been at work very long, and was unfit.’’

On October 28 he made the 45-minute drive to Southland Hospital in Invercargill, and checked himself in to the emergency department.

A chest X-ray was done at the hospital, which showed his liver and lungs were riddled with tumours. Later it was found that the primary cancer was in his bowel.

Vining was told he had incurable stage 4 cancer, and had a life expectancy of about six weeks. The tumours had probably been there for only about two months.

Missy says she couldn’t understand why they would have to wait a week to see an oncologist to discuss treatment options – but worse was to come.

‘‘[A few days later] a letter came in the post saying we’re really sorry, we’re operating outside of Ministry of Health targets for fast cancer care, and you won’t be seen for six weeks.

‘‘I rang up the hospital quite distressed, I couldn’t entertain the thought that someone was going to die and their appointment would be outside their [life-expectancy] diagnosis.’’

The couple managed to organise private treatment starting three weeks later in Dunedin, but after the first day of treatment his bowel became obstructed.

Despite the complication being fatal if not treated quickly, there were no doctors available at the time in Invercargill or Dunedin capable of performing the surgery.

They arranged for the flying doctor service to get him to Christchurch Hospital, which Missy says was a ‘‘completely different experience’’.

‘‘They had all the specialists, the doctor said he could do [that kind of operation] with his eyes closed, just a complete disparity between Southern and Christchurch.’’

The couple genuinely thought their situation was a ‘‘one-off’’ case – Blair’s cancer was a rare, aggressive strain and would not have been preventable anyway – but after speaking at a cancer conference in January they realised the issue was much bigger.

After the conference, they started to receive dozens of messages every day from other patients with similar stories, dealing with long waiting times and a lack of adequate treatment.

‘‘When we got back, Blair was like, ‘We’ve got to fix this’, and I said OK, that’s nice, but you’ve only got a little bit of time left,’’ Missy says.

‘‘He said, ‘No, this is my bucket list. I’ve got to make sure you and the girls are OK, because there won’t be someone there advocating for you if something happens like you’ve done for me’.

‘‘He was really compelled. I think it was because we had no idea how bad [the situation] was. We just assumed it was good – because it’s New Zealand.’’

Soon after, Blair started a petition to set up a national cancer agency, gaining more than 140,000 signatures before it was put before Parliament.

Drawing on his experience playing and coaching rugby, he likened the struggle to the match of his life.

‘‘I try to instil it in all my boys [in the Central Southland College first XV], when you’re off the paddock you’re a real good human being, but when you’re on the field it’s us or them, you’re going to war.’’

He says he’s been going to war against cancer, and is fighting for everyone on his team who’s in the same situation.

While the odds are stacked against him beating the disease, he wants other people not

to face the same problems he has had to deal with.

‘‘It’s just to make sure, if the girls get it, then all the systems will be in place so they won’t fall through any cracks.

‘‘If they get diagnosed early enough they can get treated early and can get rid of it.’’

While the Government’s announcement last month was a good start, Vining says there’s still a lot more work to do.

In particular, this would include lowering the age for bowel cancer screening to 50, and providing subsidies for more unfunded cancer treatments.

He says that, while the Government had announced funding for drugs to fight ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and leukaemia, the most effective drugs for dealing with bowel cancer had still not made it on to the list.

In Australia, the drug Cetuximab, for which he has been paying $30,000 a month, is subsidised by the government and costs just $50 a month.

Although getting better treatment for cancer patients is the biggest tick on Vining’s bucket list, it is by no means the only item.

In the days after his initial diagnosis, his first thought was to make sure his Central Southland College first XV would have enough money for their Australian tour in April this year.

The fundraiser got combined into one of his other bucket-list plans – one last game of rugby with his mates from Midlands and around Southland.

The event soon took a life of its own though, attracting a bevy of former Southland rugby greats, along with current Chiefs and All Blacks stars Sam Cane and Anton Lienert-brown.

About 4500 people came to watch the match at the Midlands club grounds in Winton in January, with another 500 attending an auction at the black-tie event afterwards.

More than $150,000 was raised for the Blair Vining Sports Foundation, paying for the high school team’s rugby tour and helping future projects for sport in Central Southland.

There were also some more personal items on the bucket list to tick off: teaching his elder daughter Della-may to drive, renewing his wedding vows with Missy on New Year’s Eve in Queenstown, and a ‘‘final farewell’’ dinner in Invercargill in June – which 650 people attended.

He’s even set a few new goals, to make it through to Christmas and the new year, and to be there for his daughters’ 13th and 18th birthdays.

He says the cancer symptoms, combined with the side-effects of the drugs, have taken a hard toll, leaving him sick and exhausted much of the time.

As well as the $30,000 a month for cancer treatment drugs, he says maintaining a positive attitude has helped to keep him alive.

‘‘Being real positive and having things to tick off gives you something to look forward to. If you’ve got nothing to do you’re just waiting round to die.’’

While his diagnosis is terminal, he has held on to the belief that his treatment can keep him alive long enough for another cure to be found. ‘‘It reminds me of how impressive he is,’’ Missy says. ‘‘People don’t realise how sick he is. That’s the bit that people don’t see, the effort it takes to go to these events.

‘‘His outlook is really different, it’s absolute grit and that’s what’s helped me and the girls – he just focuses on something positive and takes us with him.’’

‘‘Being real positive and having things to tick off gives you something to look forward to.’’