Daffodil Day: Life blossoms anew

Bryall McPherson is resisting her allergy to flowers to help the Cancer Society's Daffodil Day. Photo / Greg Bowker

Bryall McPherson was a sporty, outgoing teenager competing in international tennis competitions and looking to make the sport her career.

But the 19-year-old's life changed last September when she lifted her arm to serve and it broke before she had hit the ball.

Doctors spent five days trying to work out what was wrong. When the answer came, it was devastating: she had bone cancer.

After chemotherapy, she was told her bones had started healing, but the tumour had not shrunk. She had a tough choice to make.

"The doctor said: 'If you just remove a part of the tumour in the bone it will be a 50-50 chance the cancer will come back'. And I was like: 'And if I remove my arm?'

"He said: 'Well, if you remove your arm, there's a 95 per cent chance the cancer won't come back. And I was like: 'Well, I don't really have an option, do I?"'

On February 4, she had her right arm amputated. But she has not lost her bubbly personality or her zest for life.

Ms McPherson, who is now in remission from the bone cancer osteosarcoma, will spend this morning in Auckland Domain helping the Cancer Society - which she describes as her "support system" - raise money through the 19th annual Daffodil Day.

Asked how she has remained so positive, she said "an instinctive thing" just "kicked in" when the possibility of cancer was raised.

"I had two options," she said. "I could feel sorry for myself and get depressed and be suicidal. Or I could just move forward, be positive and look at the good things that I am able to do later on in life with one arm. And I was like, no way am I going to be that manic depressive person. I'm going to be really positive and strong and just get on with life."

Even before her arm was amputated, she had redirected her ambitions to swimming - a sport she stopped competing in at age 10 for tennis, but had carried on doing for fitness.

She hopes to represent New Zealand in swimming at the 2012 paralympics.

"I thought, I can't have come this far and been an athlete for so long and then just give it up. I can't do that.

"So I was, like, what sport can I do that I have got experience in that I can still do as a disabled person? Oh, swimming!"

Each day, Ms McPherson practises writing with her left hand and lifts weights to strengthen her left shoulder.

She goes to swimming training and is studying for a degree in psychology.

Ms McPherson is allergic to flowers, but she is putting all her efforts into Daffodil Day.

She says she could not have got through the last 11 months without the Cancer Society and its liaison nurses, who visited her throughout her chemotherapy.

She hopes New Zealanders will give generously during Daffodil Day and will view any donations as "insurance" in case they too need the same help she did.

CANCER FACTS

* One in three New Zealanders will be affected by cancer.
* Every day, 51 New Zealanders are diagnosed with cancer.
* Every day, 22 New Zealanders die from cancer.