School haka for cancer survivor Huntar
A boy who was left paralysed after a battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma has been welcomed back to his Upper Hutt school with a haka, and a high-five from all his classmates.
Huntar Sammons, a 10-year-old pupil at St Brendan’s School, had been absent for almost eight months while he received treatment; first for his cancer, then for his spine, which was damaged during the chemotherapy process.
His mother Michelle Hailwood said the school had remained in touch throughout, and when Huntar came home for a weekend, going to school was the first thing he wanted to do.
‘‘I mentioned to the principal that we would be returning home, and Huntar wanted to go and visit,’’ Hailwood said.
‘‘The first thing he wanted to see was his friends, it’s been seven and a half months since he’s been back to his home town.’’
The welcome Huntar did get on Friday morning was ‘‘lovely, unexpected, and emotional,’’ Hailwood said.
After performing a haka, students walked past Huntar and gave him a high-five. He went back to his old classroom and caught up with his friends.
‘‘The children loved having him back, they wheeled him around ... and made him feel just as normal, they wanted him to be part of the group still,’’ Hailwood said.
‘‘School is probably the only one thing left in his life that is still stable, and hasn’t changed,’’ his mother said.
While he had been away getting treatment classmates and teachers had stayed in touch with Huntar, sending him cards and messages.
‘‘He’s always messaging his teacher or teacher-aide as well, it’s huge, and an important part of life for him.’’
Huntar is doing an hour of school work each morning at the moment, and next year will go back to school for a few hours a day.
‘‘It will be a new normal for him being in a wheelchair. I think what he will take from school is the motivation to do more physiotherapy, to get more strength back, He’ll use his friends and their energy to become stronger.’’
Hailwood said she was grateful to the school, which had been amazing throughout Huntar’s illness.