Cancer survivor takes on Survivor NZ
When Josh Hickford was battling cancer at the age of 28 he felt like there was no one he could talk to who understood what he was going through.
‘‘I didn’t meet anybody my age,’’ Hickford said. ‘‘I literally didn’t have anyone; I didn’t know what to expect.’’
The way he felt is one of the reasons he decided to tell lies to his closest friends and put his recently-cancer-free body on the line. He entered Survivor New Zealand.
Hickford, of New Plymouth, is one of the 18 contestants whose life on the game show will be shown to NZ audiences from April 22.
He decided to enter because knew that Survivor participants get the opportunity to share their story.
Hickford found out he had hodgkins lymphoma in January 2017. Treatment started almost straight away. It was a struggle, and he wished he had a mentor, but after months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment Hickford found out he was cancer-free and in remission.
A month later, in September, Hickford entered Survivor New Zealand.
‘‘I want to get my story across to the audience and the nation,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to do some work with the Cancer Society to do some work with middle aged - 20 to 40 year old - people.
He hoped to inspire people - not just cancer sufferers and survivors, but ‘‘anyone who has a bit of a challenge in front of them’’.
Since September, Hickford has been building up a back story about where he was when the show was filming. He ended up telling everyone - bar immediate family and flat mates - that he was in Vietnam volunteering and doing community development.
He missed many family events and weddings, and had to lie to anyone who asked why he wasn’t going to be there.
Hickford didn’t tell any of the participants about his cancer battle until filming had finished.
‘‘I’ve seen in previous seasons that people with big back stories are seen as a threat,’’ Hickford said. ‘‘I didn’t want to go and be known as the cancer kid, I wanted to do it on my own.’’