Rachel Wise: Daffodil Day supporters take a bow

Rachel Wise

The past few weeks have been full of daffodils.

There has been the lead up to Daffodil Day, with near-daily reminders to support the cause and put our hearts and funds into the battle for a cure.

Then Daffodil Day itself, with the pinning of the signature flower firmly to our lapels in solidarity with the sufferers and to show that we have put our hand into our pocket to help.

And most of us have, because as the Cancer Society informs us, one out of every three New Zealanders is affected by cancer.

Most of us won't even need a minute to think about that. The names and faces of friends, family and loved ones affected by cancer will have already popped into our minds.

Some of those will be the faces of survivors, happily still with us. Some of those are faces we miss, voices stilled, cancer's victims.

While theories abound, there is no rhyme or reason to many cancer diagnoses . . we know we shouldn't smoke, get sunburned, eat an unhealthy diet. But many of those stricken have played by the rules.

Some are just children.

The search for cancer's cure is tireless and New Zealand is no slouch when it comes to medical research. A dollar in New Zealand's cancer research coffers is a dollar well invested.
So hats off to Daffodil Day's supporters, including Hawke's Bay Racing for orchestrating the finale to the weeks filled with daffodils, that fill the future with hope.