Last year Tony spent months in and out of Wellington Regional Hospital receiving treatment for leukaemia.
To show their solidarity, his Kapiti Coast United football club mates took part in ‘Shave for a Cure’, collected money, and held a charity match with Waikanae AFC – raising over $12,000.
While most of the money went to Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand, Tony and wife Bridget wanted to use some to help the hospital’s cancer ward.
“The staff were attentive, helpful and understanding, and kept us in the picture every step of the way,” Tony said.
“It was a traumatic time; they made it better and easier to cope.”
The couple decided to donate a $2500 ‘stedy-Eddy’, a tool to help patients stand and be more mobile.
“The way we were treated was brilliant, and the staff became like family. They now have their own dedicated ‘stedy-Eddy’ and don’t have to keep borrowing from the hospital equipment pool.”
Wellington Regional Hospital is a cancer centre for the lower North and upper South Islands – seeing more than 200 patients each month from Hawkes Bay to Nelson-Marlborough.
Media contact: Chas Te Runa – 027 230 9571
Image: Associate charge nurse manager Connie Rodrigues gives Tony Smith a demonstration of the ‘stedy-Eddy’.
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