Opinion: Courage shown in campaign of change

INSPIRATION: 2016 New Zealand Herald New Zealander of the Year Leisa Renwick proves we have no excuse for inaction. PHOTO/ALAN GIBSON

Reading the stories of ordinary Kiwis who have gone on to achieve great things is always a highlight for me.

This week five Bay residents were recognised in the New Year's Honours list and another was named 2016 New Zealand Herald New Zealander of the Year.

Former Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby, former Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson, sailor Peter Burling, philanthropist Tom Roper and volunteer youth worker Gerry Purcell are all more than deserving of the honours they received but it was New Zealander of the Year Leisa Renwick who really inspired me.

Fighting for your life when you're told you have only weeks to live is a big enough challenge but Mrs Renwick didn't stop there.

While still fighting for her own life she started fighting for the lives of others.

Ground-breaking immunotherapy drugs were saving her life and she was determined they be made available to all melanoma sufferers - not just those who could afford to fork out $8500 every three weeks.

No one would have blamed her for dropping everything to focus on her own recovery - most of us would do exactly that.

Instead she took up the battle to get the Government to allocate Pharmac funding for the drugs.

She collected more than 11,000 signatures, pushed unsuccessfully for a meeting with the Health Minister and finally presented him the petition on the steps of Parliament.

In May the Government acted and gave Pharmac an extra $39 million to fund two of the drugs.

If Mrs Renwick can take on such a big challenge and win while battling late-stage melanoma, surely we are all capable of bringing about change if we put our minds to it.

It's made me think about what needs to change in our society and what I can do to make that happen.

Her story should inspire us all to consider what change we can make to our society - big or small - and remind us we have no excuse for inaction.