Migrant cancer mum's race against time

Cancer sufferer Anita Lategan with her family, husband Ockert and children (from left) Alisha, 21, Angelique, 15, Monique, 12, Andre, 19, and Sonay, 22. They immigrated from South Africa last year and need to find $80,000 for Mrs Lategan's chemotherapy. P

A South African mother of five who is dying of cancer is pleading for the New Zealand Government to part-fund her chemotherapy.

Anita Lategan, 40, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in April, a year after she moved to New Zealand with her family.

Now the Flat Bush family are in a desperate race for time to find about $80,000 needed for her chemotherapy.

Mrs Lategan is not eligible for treatment under the public health system as her work permit is 56 days short of the two-year requirement.

Chemotherapy could extend her life by a few years but without it she could die within a few months.

Mrs Lategan said returning to South Africa was not really an option because her illness was so fast moving she feared she might never see her children again.

The private medical insurance she had in Durban had lapsed and the public service there was substandard and unlikely to help.

Mrs Lategan said that when her young and healthy family arrived in Auckland, getting medical insurance was not an immediate priority.

"The first three months we were sleeping on mattresses to keep the costs down," she said.

Now three of her older children all had secure jobs, as well as herself and her husband. The youngest two daughters, aged 12 and 15, were at school.

The family were committed to making a new life in New Zealand and were applying for permanent residency.

The cancer has spread at an alarming rate. "It is in my stomach, pancreas, everywhere," she said.

After her plight was raised on talkback radio yesterday the expatriate South African community and sympathetic New Zealanders had rallied to offer help.

Mrs Lategan said she did not expect New Zealand taxpayers to pick up all her costs, but pointed out five family members were paying taxes.

Her daughter Alisha, 21, said it would not be easy for the family to return to South Africa, adding: "There is no future for us there."

The Ministry of Health said that when people came to New Zealand they were clearly informed about their access to publicly funded health care.

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