When Logan Jamieson was diagnosed with myelodysplasia in 2010, he did not know what the disease was.
He only realised what it meant on his first day in isolation at Starship Hospital.
Logan would spend another 56 days there while undergoing a bone marrow transplant in 2011, but would not feel normal again until 2014.
Logan, 16, has been a patient and sibling member of CanTeen for the past three years, spending two terms on the CanTeen Hawke's Bay Committee and becoming vice president this year.
He said he joined the committee to give back and help other members, but the best part had been "meeting new people who know what it's like".