‘Absolutely amazing’
Whā nau's huge Relay for Life effort
thirty-seven members of the same whānau came together from across New Zealand in support of one message for the Whanganui Relay for Life.
The group grew so big they had to form three teams - collectively named Ngā Whetū - for the Whanganui Cancer Society fundraiser at Cooks Gardens over the weekend.
Members travelled from as far as Auckland and Tauranga.
Teina Aue lost her husband Sam Elliot to cancer in 2019 and her father died of cancer later the same year.
Aue said it was “absolutely amazing” to see so many whānau turn up.
“We have lost other whānau to cancer since then and our members had names printed on t-shirts,” she said.
“Whetū means celestial body and the loved ones we lose become stars so that’s why we chose the name.”
Aue said the aim was to remember those lost to cancer and to help raise money to enable the Cancer Society to support others.
“I was trying to push everyone in terms of saying ‘it’s not too late to get checked. Don’t put off going to the doctor’.
“Especially for our males. It was really good having a korero with some of them.
“Sam and Dad both had incredible whā nau support and I was able to call on a big group of people to support me in caring for them at home.
“When I went to chemotherapy appointments with Sam I saw people who did not have that level of support and the Cancer Society and Hospice were just so amazing with the level of care they gave.”
Neville Hinges from Pātea is Aue’s cousin and was a close friend of her late husband.
“This will be my first event in support of cancer and I am going to be dedicating 59 laps around the cool Cooks Gardens track in memory of how old Sam would have been this year,” he said.
“We have a big group coming from South Taranaki to do the walk.”
Aue said her husband would have applauded the level of support.
“Sam was really big on men’s health and encouraged all his friends and whānau to have regular prostate checks,” she said.
“His cancer was myeloma - blood cancer but he was concerned about his mates taking care of themselves and having check-ups so he would approve of us getting behind the effort to raise money to support those services.”