He's always been an Elton John fan, but for critically ill part-time Auckland musician David Curtis, one of the rock superstar's songs has even more special meaning right now.
No longer able to work as he battles a brain tumour - and told by doctors he'd be lucky to survive – Curtis says John's 1983 hit song I'm Still Standing is a message he is holding on to as hard as he can: "I'm determined to fight; any other option is not an option, I keep thinking of that song."
First diagnosed seven years ago, Curtis was initially cleared of the disease after treatment. Last March however it returned with a vengeance, leaving him dangerously sick and under intense financial pressure.
Curtis and his wife Fiona, who live on a five-acre block in Riverhead with their two teenage daughters, have been forced into extreme measures to find the significant amount of money to pay for his treatment: "We've emptied the bank account, sold two cars and cashed up KiwiSaver," says Fiona.
But this week Curtis got some good news when he was named an ASB Good as Gold recipient with the bank giving him $10,000 which he intends to use to help pay his medical expenses.
"Our ASB Good as Gold recipients are always incredibly deserving New Zealanders who are doing amazing things in their communities," says ASB West Auckland regional manager Ngaire Angus. "But for this award to go towards helping David fight this disease and spend more time with his family is particularly special.
"He is clearly a well-loved and respected man - the support from his family and the wider community shows that - and his attitude towards what must surely be the hardest thing he has ever faced is inspiring. We hope this award will help him continue on his journey back to health."
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Curtis has also received financial help from the local music community which he is heavily involved in through his piano tuning business and part-time music career. An accomplished keyboards player (he is also proficient with the guitar, saxophone, drums and mandolin) he has been a member of a number of Kiwi bands, the most well-known being Satellite Spies whose song Destiny in Motion was a Top 20 hit in the mid-1980s.
The members of the bands he plays with these days, Groove Diggers and Irish band Druid, have between them raised more than $8000 to help him while another artist he has performed with also contributed a lump sum.
Curtis remembers well the day seven years ago when he was first diagnosed: "We were in Tauranga visiting my sister on her birthday and she kept asking 'what's wrong with you?' She'd noticed my speech was a bit odd and I could feel her watching me like a hawk.
"She took me to her doctor who sent me to hospital," he says. "After a barrage of tests and a CT scan they found a tumour the size of a golf ball. I was rushed to Auckland Hospital and within 36 hours I was having surgery.
"They told me I'd be lucky to survive, that I could last five years or one. But I told them I don't do time limits."
Following intense rounds of radiation and chemotherapy Curtis received some good news - he was clear and, it seemed, had the disease beat. Then last March, six years on from his surgery, he received grim news. The cancer had returned.
"It was picked up in a regular scan," he says. "I was really upset especially after all that time of being clear. It knocks you, I thought 'oh no, here we go again'."
Fiona didn't attend the scan (she was out of town for her job) and only learnt of the new diagnosis when she received a phone call from a distraught David: "He had scans every six months and we'd become used to them being clear; we'd got a bit blasé about it."
This time round Fiona says Curtis got "really, really bad.
"He underwent another operation, more radiation and chemotherapy and was in and out of hospital. He'd spend 20 hours a day in bed he was so exhausted, and lost feeling in his left hand; the last round of chemotherapy wasn't working."
Then the couple were told of a new chemotherapy treatment (designed to reduce the flow of blood to the tumour) that, if used together with the original course, might help. The only catch - it was non-government funded and came at a cost of $5600 a shot.
"We made the decision to find the money we needed to give it a go," says Fiona. "And we are very glad we did; within four hours of taking the drug David was up and walking. He came home and took the dog for a 30-minute walk, it was mind-blowing, unbelievable."
Curtis will continue treatment and has been told the new drug will be funded now that it has proven successful - and he is hopeful for a complete recovery.
A self-confessed classic rock enthusiast - the Rolling Stones, Yes, Doobie Brothers and the late blues/rock guitarist Gary Moore being among those he likes to listen to - Curtis reckons Elton John is his favourite.
The couple is going to John's concert in Dunedin next year and if he launches into I'm Still Standing you can be sure David and Fiona will be singing right along.