Heather and Kyle sharing ice cream on a bench outside a cafe, in black and white

For Heather · from Kyle

Three years ago Heather received a terrible diagnosis. We're asking for your help so she can continue to defy the odds.

Gig poster: The Radiation Retreat, Saturday 24 October, a family friendly fundraiser upstairs at Vogelmorn Bowling Club. Featuring Thunder Snail, We Used To Be Apes, Keira Batten-Coogan and more.

Saturday 24 October · 3pm · Vogelmorn Bowling Club, upstairs · Wellington

The Radiation Retreat: a family-friendly FUNdraiser

An afternoon of live music, good times and fundraising for Heather, put on by our friend Alex Coogan-Reeves. Bring the kids, bring your mates. Food and drinks on the day, and family-friendly fundraising activities out on the Vogelmorn Green.

Feat. Keira Batten-CooganWe Used To Be ApesThundersnailDJ Flek Cmore to come…

All ages. Doors open 3pm, music from 3:30pm. Tickets are $25, kids $5, or choose a supporter ticket at $35, $50 or $100 (plus booking fee). Every ticket goes to the Heather Thurston Support Trust.

Get tickets Facebook event Can't make it? Give here
Heather in evening sun, trees behind her

Living every day to the fullest

If you don't already know Heather, she's that person - the one who always says yes to camping and gigs, crews racing yachts in Wellington Harbour, and restores mid-century furniture with her dad. In June 2023 she was diagnosed with high-grade glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer, and for the three years since has done everything necessary to stay true to her self while fighting this disease.

We're fundraising for her treatment on Givealittle - the easiest place to give - and this page is for sharing the campaign with my community.

Heather in a few words

Heather is the sweetest most generous partner, sister, daughter and Auntie you'll ever meet and she has met this disease with more grit than I can properly describe.

Here's what I mean: Shortly after Heather's first craniotomy, and once she'd completed her initial standard of care including chemo and radiotherapy, her radiation oncologist at Wellington Hospital, Dr. Naidoo, shared the hard news that Heather's cancer had returned. We were devastated. But even amongst that awful moment Heather was thinking of others. Walking out the door, Heather wished Dr. Naidoo a quick recovery from her cold. It was a simple act, but it has stayed with me - that selflessness lives in Heather even in the hardest moments.

Weeks before her second surgery this May she was going to the gym three times a week. She came out of that surgery, recovered faster than anyone expected, and went straight back to planning overnight hikes and finding our next gig like an absolute badass. We're in Auckland right now for an experimental treatment that crossed international borders.

She'd say so herself: she's not going to give up. She wants to watch her nieces and nephews grow up. Having financial support means we can actively seek the best possible cutting-edge care. Asking the people we love for money is uncomfortable, and we're doing it anyway so that we can afford to give Heather the best possible shot at continued good health.

“I've spent three years fighting this horrible disease and your support helps me keep doing it.”
Heather, in her words
Heather grinning in her hospital bed right after surgery, head freshly bandaged

What's happening

After nearly two clear years, Heather's cancer came back aggressively. She had a second craniotomy in May and restarted daily chemotherapy. She's now in Auckland for a second dose of experimental radiopharmaceutical therapy, approved for her specific case by her oncologist and supplied by an international pharmaceutical on compassionate grounds as it's still in the clinical trial phase. It means a few days in an isolation room.

The treatment is a gift from the pharmaceutical company, but everything around it comes from our pockets: the hospital stay, nuclear decommissioning, travel to Auckland from Wellington, ongoing medication, specialist consultations, and the scans that track whether it's working. And that's for each round.

The Heather things

Heather at the winch of a sailboat on a bright day
Crewing on the harbour
Heather hiking the Tongariro crossing, lake behind her
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Heather and Kyle in surgical caps and masks, both flashing peace signs before surgery
Suited up, ready to go
Heather with both arms in the air outside the YMCA
Y. M. C. A.
Heather and Kyle on a coastal hilltop, wind turbines behind
Ocean House getaway
Heather behind a big vase of blue and purple flowers
Get well flowers
Heather on a bush track, one boot up on a root
Out on a track
Kyle kissing Heather's cheek in front of a city skyline
Perth skyline selfie
Heather waving from her radioprotection isolation room, door signs in front
Room 64: waving from the isolation room

The easiest way to give is her Givealittle page.

Click to Open Givealittle

Giving in US dollars? Enter the NZ$ amount

US$50 → NZ$85 US$100 → NZ$170 US$250 → NZ$425

You'll be offered a small top-up to cover the platform's 5% fee - so that Heather receives your full gift.

Heather Thurston Support Trust

06‑0507‑0914274‑00

If donating from within New Zealand, you can pay Heather's trust directly with the number above. Just put your name in the reference so she knows who to thank. The legal trust is managed by three trustees, and pays only for Heather's treatment and related costs against receipts. Any unused funds will be gifted to Brain Tumour Support NZ (registered charity CC56933).

Updates

We've reached $40,000! That's close to the $45,000 we estimated Heather's treatment would need, so rather than set a new goal we're leaving the Givealittle open while treatment continues. On Tuesday 29 September Heather heads back to Auckland for her second dose of the radiopharmaceutical, aka radiation retreat Part II, with another 3–4 nights in isolation while she's radioactive. Every dollar is held in a dedicated trust account managed by three trustees and goes to her treatment and related costs. Thank you, truly.

Completely blown away! The Givealittle campaign has had a huge response and growing. We're so grateful to everyone who has given and shared it. In treatment news: Heather is out of isolation, and her targeted radiotherapy started on 18 August — a short session every weekday for about three and a half weeks. She's taking it in stride, as she does.

Givealittle is published, and Heather is in Auckland for the first radiopharmaceutical dose of IPAX. A few days of isolation, then targeted radiotherapy about a week later. She's in good spirits and blowing radioactive kisses from across the room.