Ireland said he could not believe it when donations started to flow with the Givealittle page reaching $29,080 as of 2.30pm on Monday, when he was due to start treatment.
“People from my past that I had forgotten I had taught had come up with nice kind words at how I had changed their lives.”
He said he felt humbled.
“I had a student who has a dairy in Mahora and he was one of the first to donate on the first day and he was very generous he gave $1000 for an ex-teacher.”
Ireland said he had made it his mission as a school teacher to take the students beyond the classroom, instilling life skills.
Former student Vincent Jones said Ireland had been a “wonderful mentor”, not only for himself, but many other students who learnt in his classroom kitchen.
“He is someone who always puts others first and wants to share his skills and talents with each student. Even if we didn’t achieve the results we wanted at times, he’d always support us.”
Jones described Ireland as ”one heck of a person".
After his rectal cancer diagnosis, Ireland had radiation treatment and chemotherapy to see if the cancer could be shrunk before surgery.
“It wasn’t great, and it wasn’t a nice journey at all.”
Ireland suffered from neuropathy, which caused tingling in his hands and pain brought on by cold air.
He found out in November 2023 the cancer had developed in his liver.
Since then, his life has been a cycle of hospital visits in both Hawke’s Bay and Auckland — for treatment and surgeries.
The discovery of cancer in his lung in November 2024 meant there was no longer any funded treatment that could help.
“I’ve got a really hard to kill cancer that disguises itself.”
Ireland and his family, including wife Sarah, are hopeful his life can be prolonged.
Sarah said she didn’t think her husband of 29 years looked sick, so it had been tough to get her head around.
She described him as an “energiser bunny”, while she was a “St John’s widow”, because of all the time he spent at the school with the students.
“Craig is the kindest, most giving person in the world.”
She said the drugs they were fundraising for were “likely life extending, not lifesaving”, with a 10% chance it would help stop the cancer growth.
“Without the chemo, he has got months, not years.”
Donations can be made online to Givealittle.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
