First of, thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, it means a lot to me, Nick and the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute that you made it here. Hi :) 

So why are we here?

My friend and dear colleague Nick White is facing a second round of battling cancer. To inspire him in his treatment and recovery, a few of us rascals at Xero have dreamt up a fundraiser for his favourite group, the Gilles-McIndoe Research Institute, based in Wellington (NZ).

The GMRI is focused on making cancer treatments less intrusive, more accessible and more affordable. Saving beautiful lives,
like the one of Nick, through groundbreaking research work.

And why is this so important to Stef?

Well, Nick is one of my personal heroes! An incredible human, ambassador, father, athlete, husband colleague, trainer and team-builder. He’s also a 2xcancer survivor. 

In 2011 Nick was diagnosed with cancer and was given a 50% chance to live 5 years. He not only survived those challenging odds, but also expressed his gratitude for the GMRI's work that got him there by completing the Mt Fuji’s race to the summit 5 years after his recovery. A race that is not just a grueling 21km long and 3,776 meters up, but also has a 50% change of completion.

Nick has begun another climb as his cancer has returned in 2022. To motivate him through his treatment my Xero colleagues and I have banded together to raise funds for the GMRI on his behalf. We share Nick's and the GMRi's vision: “Our goal is treatment of cancer without surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy - to bypass everything we have done for the last 100 years.” Dr Swee Tan, Founder and Executive Director, GMRI.

What will Stef do about it?

Well, originally I was meant to be a running athlete for the fundraiser - like so many of my sporty colleagues on this team. I know how it can be so much more appealing to see me go the extra mile for your hard earned dollar. But the novelty of a virus nipped the idea of being physically capable and legally allowed to do just that, in the bud (oh hi, home isolation). So instead I decided to fund my colleagues and add my own page. And who knows, maybe there is a 50% chance that at the end of this month I also can commit to 21km in some shape of form.

UPDATE 11/03/22 - Health is on the up, yeay! So I am setting a fitness goal after all and am committing to walking a marathon (42km) a week for the rest of the month of March, for Nick :) 

For now, Please join me in support of Nick’s Summit Challenge by donating and spreading the word. We've each set our own fitness goals so check out Strava feeds to see how we are doing. You can make a donation by donating directly to the team or by selecting an individual teammate and donating through their page. We are just grateful for your support.
Donations will support, among other things, clinical trials which use existing medications to control the regulatory system of cancer stem cells which has extended lives of glioblastoma brain cancer patients and preserved their quality of life using low-cost over the counter medication. 

#NicksSummitChallenge

Ka pai!