Kate takes a break on 90 Mile Beach on the first stage of her walking the length of New Zealand campaign.
Kate takes a break on 90 Mile Beach on the first stage of her walking the length of New Zealand campaign.
In May, when Kate Coatsworth was depleted and in the throes of chemo, she could barely walk several steps, let alone consider taking on the length of the country on foot.
Fast-forward four months and she is partway through traversing New Zealand from top to bottom, following Te Araroa Trail, in a bid to raise awareness and funds for Brain Tumour Support NZ.
Coatsworth has arrived in Whangārei and is this morning carrying out a circuit of the Hatea Loop with locals in a further push for her campaign Beating the Track for Brain Cancer.
Coatsworth, from Thames, was an active 33-year-old and had just moved to Sydney in January last year to extend her career as a youth worker when she was diagnosed.
"I was having job interviews and had started getting really awful, debilitating headaches which left me bedridden. My flatmate said 'No, this isn't normal' and her mum ended up coming round and dragging me to hospital."
At the appointment, Coatsworth collapsed twice and was admitted to ICU, in critical condition, within an hour.
"They said if I hadn't come in when I did, I wouldn't have woken up the next day."
She had an aggressive tumour the size of a fist which had grown so large it had caused a bleed. Coatsworth had an MRI, followed by seven-hour brain surgery to remove the tumour, and was discharged the next week before undergoing six weeks of daily radiation and chemotherapy concurrently, followed by a full year of chemotherapy which finished in May this year.
She said it was miraculous she survived and puts it down to a combination of her age, level of health and fitness going into the ordeal, along with a very rare mutation gene present in the tumour which changes the course of cancer and responds better to treatment.
"I did have a second chance at life and I don't want that to go to waste and want, out of really grim, dire circumstances, something good to happen."
It was her dad and a friend who raised the idea of the Beating the Trail for Brain Cancer campaign.
"They actually pitched the idea and did a really good job," said Coatsworth, adding that she could never have imagined walking the length of New Zealand at the time.
"It was good because it wasn't about me so it made the decision a lot easier."
Coatsworth had noticed there was little support for brain cancer sufferers. Brain Tumour Support NZ Trust is a registered charity set up last year to address the lack of support and information available to people diagnosed with a brain tumour in New Zealand. They are delighted to be confirmed as the charity partner for Beating the Track for Brain Cancer.
"This is an ambitious undertaking by anyone, let alone someone who has battled brain cancer," said Brain Tumour Support NZ chair Mandy Bathan.
"Being a less common cancer, brain tumours are often overlooked by the medical and research community, and there is a lack of awareness among the general public. Yet most people would be surprised to learn that brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer."
Kate Coatsworth, fourth from left, with her support crew about to leave from Cape Reinga.
Coatsworth's journey began on September 7 at Cape Reinga with a small support team including her trainer and a friend with her two young sons. Coatsworth's parents follow in a campervan and a pop-top SUV to provide their accommodation most nights but they also stay at holiday parks and occasionally with acquaintances along the way.
"The very first day it was torrential rain," Coatsworth recalls. "But we had been training in that kind of weather over the winter so we got used to walking in the rain. And we've been really lucky, the rest of the time we've had amazing weather."
They average around 18km a day and Coatsworth said they spend the time talking, singing or in companionable silence.
With the effects of chemotherapy still in her system, Coatsworth is overcome with exhaustion some days but said she is feeling better with each day. The journey is interspersed with three-monthly MRIs.
The plan is to reach Wellington in December and head home for a break over Christmas, before resuming the journey through the South Island, finishing at Bluff around May next year, after covering the distance of 3000km.
Coatsworth's journey incorporates numerous sponsored "mini walks" in cities along the way where members of the public can lend their support, walking alongside her while helping to fundraise.
For Northlanders, this takes place today at Whangārei's Hatea Loop from 10.30am-11.30am, gathering outside Clapham's Clock Museum. Coatsworth was looking forward to walking the loop, which she had visited on her way through and said it was "beautiful".
The mini-walk is free to register and all registered participants receive a fundraising pack with money going towards the Givealittle page. A national raffle is also running throughout the time of the walk.
For more details, visit: www.braintumoursupport.org.nz.
