Adrenaline-junkie Boyd Ingle from Ngatea cutting mullet for cancer charity

Ten-year-old Boyd Ingle has been growing his hair for three years and has so far raised over $1000 in over 24 hours for Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty as part of the Jump For Cancer fundraiser.

For the past three years, 10-year-old Boyd Ingle from Ngatea has been growing his hair and is getting ready to lop off his locks to raise money for a local cancer group through the Jump For Cancer fundraiser initiative.

At the time of going to press, Boyd had raised $1343.09 for Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty- smashing his $1000 target in just a few days.

Boyd will be celebrating his achievement shortly by completing a skydive. Participants who raise $1000 for Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty receive a free skydive at a location of their choice.

Boyd’s Mum, Louise, said her son is an “adrenaline junkie. He does motocross, plays rugby, and doesn’t get fazed at theme parks. He did the Sky Jump at the Sky Tower. I thought he might panic because he’s a deep thinker but he wasn’t bothered at all. He asked to go skydiving when he was 8.

“He knew how long his mullet was and has always said cutting it would be a great way to raise money. He’s seen friends do something similar and thought that was cool.”

“Everyone knows him because of his hair. He liked being the boy with the long mullet and having people commenting in the street. It’s him, he’s the ‘boy with the mullet’. He told me he’d raise the money in a day and he was right!

“Cancer is a massive thing, added Louise, it affects everyone and we know that the Cancer Society helps families going through it. Boyd wanted to raise money and the skydive was a bonus.”

Boyd's impressive mullet.

Boyd will complete his jump at Skydive Tauranga.

The Cancer Society is not directly government funded and relies on community support through initiatives such as Jump For Cancer. Their supportive care services are free of charge to people with cancer and their whānau, and a referral is not necessary.

Since 2011, the Cancer Society’s Lions Lodge has provided free accommodation and meals to people who need to travel long distances for life-saving treatment at Waikato Hospital.

In the last financial year (2021/2022), the Cancer Society provided:

• 8183 the number of times Cancer Society supportive care nurses have been there to offer advice, information and advocacy to someone with cancer, their whānau or friends
• 11,592 bed nights at Cancer Society’s Lions Lodge accommodation
• 1712 guests at the Lodge.

You can donate to Boyd’s fundraising page at https://jumpforcancer.org.nz/boyd-ingle