4-year-old Kawhi was diagnosed with rare Ganglioneuroblastoma cancer in 2022.
4-year-old Kawhi was diagnosed with rare Ganglioneuroblastoma cancer in 2022.
Hawke’s Bay man Sukhdeep Singh started fundraising back in 2013 after a close friend died from cancer in India. He’s now in his 11th year of raising money for the Cancer Society.
While supporting those with cancer has always been close to Sukhdeep’s heart, it became even more important to him after being diagnosed with blood cancer in 2016. (He is now in remission).
Now in remission, Sukhdeep said he didn’t tell anyone about the cancer when he was first diagnosed.
“That had a huge impact on my mental health, and then I had some counselling at the Cancer Society that made a difference and gave me the courage to talk about this to my work, extended family and friends,” he said.
Over 11 years of fundraising, the Hastings man has shaved his head a few times in support of everyone who is going through the treatment, along with organising events and walks during September to help raise money and awareness.
On August 25, Sukhdeep will walk from Hastings to Napier alongside 30 to 40 others and welcomes anyone who wants to join in.
Sukhdeep Singh pictured with his son, has organised many fundraisers and events to help those with cancer during the past 11 years. Photo / Warren Buckland
This year, the fundraiser is extra important to Sukhdeep; not only is he wearing the daffodil for himself but also for a friend’s four-year-old son, Kawhi, who was diagnosed with rare ganglioneuroblastoma cancer in 2022.
“Kawhi is a very brave kid and inspires me to do this fundraising work more to support others,” he said.
In June of 2022, aged two, Kawhi had multiple hospital stays with pneumonia caused by COVID-19. The infection continued for three months while his parents thought that he was on the mend.
At the end of that year, Kawhi had a follow-up appointment at Hastings Hospital to make sure his last x-ray was clear of pneumonia.
On that x-ray the doctor found a grey mass in the middle of his chest, to the side of his lungs. The doctor suggested an urgent CT scan is to be done to determine if the mass could be harmful.
In the span of a few days, Kawhi had the CT scan and had to travel to Starship Hospital for an MRI scan where doctors found a tumour growing from Kawhi’s spine.
The doctors made the fast decision to remove the tumour rather than have a biopsy because it was close to the boy’s heart and lungs. The doctors knew whatever it was, it needed to be removed.
After a successful five-hour surgery, the tumour was sent for genetic testing and a diagnosis was made of a rare cancer, ganglioneuroblastoma.
The tumour grew from Kawhi’s adrenal gland on the side of his spine, growing towards his chest wall, and the genetic testing showed a rare gene that doctors said would grow back.
In 2023, Hargun Kaur 5 taking part in the Daffodil Day wellbeing walk and BBQ at Te Mat Park organised by Akaal Riders NZ, Force 4 Good Charitable Trust and Sukhdeep Singh. Photo / Paul Taylor
Sukhdeep said the young boy has been “lucky enough” to avoid chemotherapy as the harsh side effects outweigh the benefits at this stage.
He added, “Kawhi is now a very happy four-year-old boy and attends regular appointments at Hastings Hospital, including surveillance scans to make sure things are behaving”.
Alongside another ANZ team member, Sarah Heywood from Timaru, Sukhdeep has also been named as one of the faces of ANZ Bank Daffodil Day this year, alongside some Kiwi sports stars, including Silver Fern Maia Wilson and Black Cap Daryl Mitchell.
When asked how he felt being named one of the faces of the ANZ Daffodil Day, Sukhdeep told the Hastings Leader; “Fundraising for Daffodil Day is very personal to me, and it was a huge privilege to be asked to be part of this campaign”.
The Hawke’s Bay man feels very proud to work for ANZ Bank because they get behind the daffodil fundraising every year.
Sukhdeep said the other people on the ANZ campaign are very ”powerful” and hearing their stories inspires him to do more and more fundraising every year.
“I met Maia Wilson and Sarah Heywood, and they were very down to earth, humble, emphatic and equally crazy like me to raise funds for Cancer Society,” he said.
People have sent Sukhdeep photos of his campaign picture on ANZ ATM around the country and he said it makes him smile every time.
Walking from the Elwood Park parking area to Napier Sound Shell at 11am on August 25, Sukhdeep wants to motivate, inspire and empower everyone to be physically active to prevent certain types of cancers and a message to cancer warriors that physical activity can be a walk or light cycling.
“I go to the gym, which was very hard in the beginning. I still struggle sometimes, but I never give up.”
Sukhdeep said, “People can join me for a walk one mile or the whole way.”
He added, “People can cycle or run, or they can bring their dog with them for a walk, and they can also encourage and inspire their friends and family to join and be active.
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing at the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with NZME for almost three years and has a strong focus on what’s going on in communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffares@nzme.co.nz
