Medical staff amazed at generosity

ATTENTION-GRABBING: Ruth Hedemann was one of a group from Southern Cross Rotorua who hit town to raise money for Relay for Life yesterday. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 070314SP6.JPG

It's not often you see doctors decked out in scrubs wheeling a gurney through the streets of Rotorua.

A group from Southern Cross QE hit the streets yesterday raising money ahead of next weekend's Relay for Life fund-raiser for the Cancer Society.

Team captain Angus France said doctors, nurses and even the hospital manager took part in the fund-raising effort.

The anaesthetic technician said working in the health field, cancer was something they dealt with on a regular basis.

He said outside of work they'd all had people they knew who had been diagnosed with cancer.

A popular colleague, orthopaedic surgeon Ross Bohm, had died of cancer which made them all the more passionate about the cause, he said.

"All of us have been touched by it."

Mr France said they were amazed at the response from Rotorua people yesterday.

"People have actually been coming over to donate."

They raised more than $1000 in the two-and-a-half hours they were out collecting in the CBD.

He said they always tried to enter teams in the event and there'd be more than 20 of them taking part next weekend.

Relay for Life takes place next Saturday and Sunday at the Rotorua International Stadium.

It's held in Rotorua every second year and is the Cancer Society's second biggest fund-raiser after Daffodil Day.

Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society spokeswoman Rachael Mounsey said one of the great parts of the event was seeing people from all different walks of life come together to support a common cause.

She said it was about more than fund-raising.

"One in three New Zealanders are affected by cancer and Relay For Life is a chance for people to acknowledge how cancer has affected their lives. At relay we celebrate those who have overcome cancer and remember the loved ones we have lost to cancer. It's this that makes Relay For Life such a treasured and important community event."