Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Emily enjoys 'delicious' surprise cake

Rotorua Daily Post
21 Jul, 2013 07:51 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A Rotorua girl with a rare condition has marked the start of her teenage years with a triple-tiered cake and will soon jet overseas on holiday.

Emily Bassett, 13, was the latest Rotorua recipient of an Operation Sugar cake - a three-tiered vanilla cake decorated with coloured and shaped fondant.

Emily was born with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome and for the first five years of her life breathed through a tracheotomy. At the time of her birth there were around 180 other cases worldwide. Now there are around three or four others in New Zealand.

She needs 24-hour supervision in case she stops breathing and has no autonomic functions - she has cardiac issue and no tears.

Emily was nominated by her sister Carolyn who lives in Australia. Her mum Karen only found out when she needed to sign a form.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Otherwise it would have been a big surprise for me, too," she said.

"I didn't know this organisation existed, the cake was amazing. We've never received anything like this before."

Emily loved it - she didn't want to cut it but she did in the end because there were people there to eat it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said the cake was a big hit. "It tasted absolutely delicious. Emily's not a cake eater and I tried to give her brother a big chunk but she said no, she liked this cake and she would eat it."

To top off her 13th birthday, which was on Friday and her party on Saturday, Emily was recently selected by the Make A Wish Foundation to go on a holiday to the Gold Coast with her family.

The cake was baked by volunteer cake-maker Gail Teichmann. "It's a nice thing to be able to do," she said.

"I have a little bit of talent and it's nice to be able to help and do something nice for other people.

"When Emily's mum first saw it she burst into tears."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP