Police raft for terminally ill colleagues

FILE

About 180 police staff from all over the North Island battled for supremacy at the annual New Zealand Police Association Raft Race yesterday.

The race was held on the Kaituna River and doubled as a fundraiser for two terminally ill Taranaki-based policemen.

This year was the eighth anniversary of the event, one of the largest police sporting events in New Zealand.

Sergeant Aaron Holloway said they all had a great day on the river.

"It is amazingly good, it's an awesome day. The guys have had a real competitive day, there has been lots of close racing, with a few spills and thrills.

"It has grown through the eight years, it's the number one sporting event for police with teams from all over the North Island up for a day on the river, having a good unwind really.

"This year, we've got two guys who came up from Taranaki who were diagnosed with terminal cancer so we are raising funds for them, one of them only has eight to 10 weeks to live.

"We have another raft which goes down as a spectator raft and the guys put a koha in for that. It does wake things up a little bit, about how life is pretty short.

"They are having a ball, it's a terrible thing but they are really keen to get out there and just live their lives. For one of them it was the first time in six weeks he had been anywhere but the hospital," Mr Holloway said.