Pedal power man shows his true colours
Here’s a look at what’s been happening this week in Waikato community newspapers.
A trust which helps young children and their families is about to get a helping hand itself, thanks to the pedal power of Morrinsville man Dave Clay.
Clay will cycle the Waikato to help raise funds and awareness for the True Colours Children’s Health Trust, which has supported his grandson, Hadleigh and their extended family.
Hadleigh, 3, was born premature and suffers from chronic health conditions. True Colours has been there to offer support, as a Waikato-based health care organisation, funded entirely by community generosity.
The trust supports children and young people with complex serious illness and their families.
Since its inception in 2004, it has helped 1200 families.
‘‘They (True Colours) have been an absolutely vital support for the family,’’ Clay said.
‘‘I thought about what I could do to help them.’’
Initially he was going to ride from Cape Reinga to Bluff and mooted the idea with his cycling buddies.
It was suggested by them that instead he should ride the area True Colours services, which is within the Waikato District Health Board jurisdiction.
‘‘That was a perfect idea, ever since then things have just fallen into place.’’
The avid cyclist, who has been riding for 25 years, has been training five days a week.
To date he has ridden over
8168kms.
Cycling shirts with the True Colours logo and his sponsors have been made and already over
30 have been sold.
Starting at Cambridge Town Hall on March 2 at 9.30am, Clay will ride through 23 Waikato and King Country towns, stopping off at supermarkets where Lions Club members from the various towns will set up information and fundraising areas.
He will arrive at Morrinsville New World on March 6 at 1.45pm.
Clay will finish his ride at True Colours headquarters on March 13 at 1.30pm.
True Colours Children’s Health Trust chief executive Cynthia Ward described Clay as a ‘‘super hero’’.
‘‘Every day at True Colours we are inspired by children who live with such complex health conditions. Their parents are often the unsung heroes who provide such dedicated care. However, the impact is on all family members,’’ she said.
‘‘Both Dave and (his wife) Louise really are going the extra mile to make a difference so that all children and their families continue to have the care they require from True Colours.’’
Comeback paved with gold
Twenty-five years is a long time to take a break from competitive sport – but Rochelle Richardson is proving that making a ‘comeback’ is a road paved with gold.
The 41-year-old recently returned from the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin, with a gold medal in gymnastics.
Richardson started gymnastics as an eager 5-year-old with the Matamata Gymnastics Club, under the tutelage of her mum Janice Howland.
‘‘It was just something I found easy, loved and enjoyed doing.’’
She went from earning badges to medals and worked her way from competitive gymnastics into being selected for both Waikato and national squads.
She was selected for a New Zealand squad, competing in an international competition and travelled once a month to Napier with her mum for training.
When Richardson was 15-yearsold an injury set her back by six months.
She returned to gymnastics but before long she found her priorities had shifted.
‘‘Competing was over both a Saturday and Sunday and we would train morning and afternoon every day.
‘‘It wasn’t taken lightly.
‘‘As much as we did enjoy it – it was full on. I had, had enough and I gave up,’’ she said.
She never intended to give up completely, but a career and motherhood to two boys came along first and she put all her effort into raising her family.
Until she was inspired by a photo of a former coach walking on a beam at the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland.
‘‘I thought I could do that.’’ She told her mum that she wanted to return to gymnastics and Janice resumed the role of coach. Richardson’s immediate goal was the Dunedin New Zealand Masters Games.
She set to work, working on strength and flexibility at Evolve Gym and joined Argos Gymnastics Club in Tauranga.
The first few sessions were routines that would help Richardson see what she was capable of.
‘‘I could do it all in my mind, but my body wasn’t quite catching up.’’
It wasn’t long before her body and muscles remembered.
‘‘It was great training again. The more you did it, the more you wanted to do it – the more fantastic you felt.’’
And with her sons watching, Richardson won gold at the Masters Games, competing with 15 others in the 40-49 age group.
Her future goals are the New Zealand Masters each year over the next two years and then her ultimate goal of the Worlds Masters Games in Japan in 2021.
‘‘World Masters would be a huge achievement.
‘‘I would love it if my body participates.’’
Matamata Chronicle
Hazards of gardening
A Turangi man is warning of the hazards of gardening after contracting Legionnaires disease, most likely from the potting mix he was using.
Clint Green was on holiday at Tanner’s Point, near Waihi, and was two days away from coming home when he got sick on January 13.
‘‘The day begun much the same as the past few days, relaxed, cheerful, with a real feeling of no agenda, no rush and no worries,’’ he said.
Clint had been enjoying the warm summer days on the water, fishing but on this particularly hot day, floating in the harbour, Green started to feel unwell.
‘‘I’m feeling hot, weak, tired, thirsty and just unwell,’’ he said.
He said the abruptness of onset and ‘‘degree of malaise’’ was alarming. ‘‘At this stage I am thinking ‘flu’ which was in itself alarming having had a nasty flu back in July [last year].’’
By the time Green got to shore he could barely haul himself up to his apartment. He dropped on his bed at 4pm and slept until 11am next day.
After a couple of days of feeling miserable, Green decided to head home to Turangi but decided to stop in Bethlehem, near Tauranga, to catch up with his son.
While he was there, they decided he should go to the doctor. From there he was sent straight to Tauranga Hospital.
‘‘My temperature of 40.9 was enough to send them leaping into action,’’ Green said.
Within 30 minutes a chest X-ray confirmed he had pneumonia.
‘‘I was floored. I had no cough and no respiratory difficulties at all,’’ he said.
‘‘Five minutes later, the doctor saw me and asked if I had been using potting mix in the last two weeks.
‘‘It was an easy answer.’’ Green had been using a lawn mix, a vegetable mix, outdoor container mix and potting mix, all within the previous two weeks.
‘‘At this moment it all made sense,’’ he said.
Tests later revealed the pneumonia was caused by Legionnaires disease.
Being a keen gardner, Green had heard about Legionnaires disease before but never thought he’d get it.
It has been a few weeks since falling sick but Green is still feeling the effects of the disease.
He said the moral of the story was to ‘‘heed the warnings’’ and wear gloves and a mask when using potting mix.