Street ‘blown away’ by fans
Presenter with incurable autoimmune disease says thanks for support
Please be careful online. Free is almost never free on the internet. Our 91-year-old friend thought she had won a trip for four to Orlando, Florida, and gave out hubby’s credit card details. Credit card debited $2600. We are trying to get that back. It’s not so much the money, it’s her pride that has taken a fall. Marie A huge thanks to the guy who helped me with my puppy, Tito, who got spooked in the Downtown carpark on our way to the Blessing of the Animals. Tito just planted his backside and no amount of coaxing would shift him. I asked this guy to help and he picked Tito up and carried him (48kg) down the ramp to the outside. I couldn’t have done it without him. Carol To the rude young woman running on the seaside path at Thomas Bloodworth Park in Remuera on Friday morning, I hope you read this and are regretting your arrogant behaviour. I was talking to a friend and we were aware of you running towards us so I moved back off the path so you could pass between us but you decided to go behind me and shouted aggressively, “Move, move”. We were gobsmacked at your rudeness. Wendy A big thank you to Derrek and Tom from Harvey Norman, Wairau Drive, who were so kind and understanding when my husband and I returned an appliance. They made everything so easy and we know not every retailer is that customer friendly. Liz What’s the big deal about people eating a few nuts that grow on the trees in the Domain? What exactly is the “natural nut thing” in this instance? Falling to the ground and getting run over by a lawnmower, I would think. What if it was plums or citrus? Would people all stand around thinking profound thoughts watching the fruit rotting “naturally” on the ground? Perhaps there are more nuts in the Domain than just the ones on trees. John My wife and I went on a cruise on the steam tug William C Daldy and were delighted to meet in the depth of the boiler room George, 81, who is still shovelling coal into the furnaces, and such a fount of knowledge about the old boilers and how they function. Roger
Presenter Toni Street has thanked fans for their support after revealing to a women’s magazine that she has an incurable and potentially fatal autoimmune disease.
On Seven Sharp last night, the 32-year-old presenter said she had not wanted to make a “hoo ha” about recently being diagnosed with Churg-Strauss syndrome, but the mother of two told Woman’s Day she came close to organ failure and had already had her gallbladder removed after years of poor health.
She said she was “blown away” by the messages of support: “There are some real gems of people out there.”
ChurgStrauss syndrome causes autoimmune systems to overreact, leading to allergies, tissue damage and death. It is hard to diagnose as symptoms can disappear and reappear without warning.
Street, who has suffered stomach pains for six years, was in the early stages of organ failure because of the disease.
“I have had some very dark moments . . . when I’ve worried I’m not going to be around to look after my girls — and that’s been tough,” she said.
Street had her gallbladder removed just after the birth of her second child, and was told she would feel better once it was removed, but the pain returned just two days later, which led to the diagnosis.
She is being treated daily with steroid infusions and immune-suppressant drugs and may face chemotherapy, Woman’s Day reported.
The New Plymouth woman said the drugs left her aching, puffy, worn out and depressed and the diagnosis had left her in complete shock.
“I managed to hold it together with the doctor, but I got out to the car and just burst into tears ... I was freaking out — the words ‘organ failure’ and ‘ chemo- therapy’ were so scary.”
Many fans posted words of support on social media.
“Toni, you are a breath of fresh air. May you be blessed with the strength to cope with your diagnosis. Kia Kaha,” Barb Leaming wrote on Facebook.
“You can battle anything sent your way. Praying for you and yours,” said Louise Werder-Bridgeman.
Street’s family has met tragedy before. In 2001, her teenage brother Stephen died in a farm bike accident, her twin brother Lance died of leukaemia when they were 18 months old and her younger sister Tracy died shortly after she was born in 1986.