‘He never complains . . . it’s amazing.’
‘‘Your life is measured by how important and loved you can make someone else feel.’’ MS sufferer Kane Roper
Kane Roper has a vivid memory of the day his body began to fail him.
He was in Hawke’s Bay, on leave from his job as a meat inspector, and it was almost Christmas in 2005.
‘‘I was in the car, driving and my brother was following behind me and I saw two cars in the rear-vision mirror. It looked like he was going to hit me,’’ Roper said. He recalls nervously talking to his parents about seeing double.
Doctors suspected multiple sclerosis (MS), which caused him to ‘‘freak out’’ and take off overseas. In Britain he was officially diagnosed with MS. Two years later he moved to Japan. He came home when he started walking with a cane.
MS slowly attacks the central nervous system, affecting the brain, spine and bodily functions. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old found he was not able to move his leg, and now he moves around his home in Waikanae in an electric wheelchair or with a walking frame. He can use his computer, but ‘‘I’m a one-finger typer right now’’.
His specialist recently told him about the drug alemtuzumab, marketed as Lemtrada, which is an intravenous treatment designed to help relapsing MS sufferers. It is taken in two courses, 12 months apart. But unlike Australia, New Zealand does not publicly fund Lemtrada, so it costs about $100,000 a treatment.
Close friend Rachel Drayton set up a Givealittle page in an effort to help raise the $200,000 Roper needs to get the treatments in Australia. ‘‘I try to put myself in his shoes ... it must be so frustrating,’’ Drayton said.
‘‘But he never complains. He never says anything. It’s amazing.’’
Drayton and Roper have known each other since the age of 4, and Drayton said he always had a wicked wit.
And despite his sickness benefit failing to cover the bare essentials, Roper retains a positive outlook. His speech is slurred, but he still cracks jokes and talks about his dream to go into politics.
When asked why people should help him get this drug, he simply said: ‘‘Because I’m awesome.’’
And as to how he remains so positive: ‘‘Basically, your life is measured by how important and loved you can make someone else feel. This is the crux and fundamentally why we are here. Not for ourselves primarily, but for others.’’