Cancer ball personal for chef
When Jonny Schwass serves the main course at the Cancer Society Ball, few may realise he is among the thousands of reasons ball-goers are there.
The well-known Christchurch chef and restaurateur, who sold Harlequin Public House last year, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2000.
‘‘It’s a cause that’s pretty close to my heart. I’m coming up 17 years as a cancer survivor now . . . It’s sort of shaped me as a person,’’ he said.
About 60 people are diagnosed with cancer every day in New Zealand. For Schwass, the diagnosis came in his mid-20s.
‘‘I was working as a chef in town and I wasn’t particularly well
''I'm coming up 17 years as a cancer survivor now . . . It's sort of shaped me as a person." Jonny Schwass
for a period of time. It sort of peaked at point where I ended up coughing up a whole lot of blood.
‘‘I ended up in hospital within a pretty quick time period, found out . . . and basically left myself in the hands of the amazing people at the Christchurch public hospital.’’
The situation became ‘‘a real family battle’’, he said.
‘‘Something I sort of found [was] it affected my immediate family almost more than it affected me. It changed their lives a lot as well.
‘‘It’s amazing how allencompassing it can be. I think there’s a lot of people in everyday life who are fighting battles and not everyone knows about it.’’
The 27th annual Cancer Society Ball, being held at Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena tonight, is a way of ensuring continued help for people like Schwass and his family.
The total raised from the event goes towards the $6 million needed every year to keep services running in the Canterbury and West Coast regions.
In 2016, the event raised $170,000, $50,000 more than the year before.
Schwass would spend the night splitting his time between the kitchen and ballroom, ‘‘which is always interesting’’.
‘‘I’m going to try and be a customer as well. My wife and friends bought tickets because we try to support these things in one way or another, either by going or cooking at them.
‘‘I’ll probably be in the kitchen in a suit, plating the main course, which is not unheard of.’’
Alongside him will be chefs Dan Shanks and Richard Till, while MC Ben Hurley and Auckland 10-piece band Hipstamatics will entertain the ball’s 1200 guests.
People unable to attend can still take part in a silent auction online at galabid.com/auction/cancersocietyball17
More than $15,000 had been raised from the auction late this week, with organisers hoping to double it by tonight.