Fashion on a Mission: Te Puke event to aid Brennan Miller’s Ewings Sarcoma fight

Ree Style owner Maree Cooper is organising a charity fashion show in Te Puke.

Maree Cooper is on a mission to help her friend’s son.

Maree, owner of Ree Style (the new name of Street 2 Surf) in Te Puke, is holding a fashion show next month to raise money for the Miller family.

Brennan Miller, 19, has battled Ewings Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer, since he was 15.

Previously from Pāpāmoa, the family now lives in Pukekohe.

Maree says Brennan’s mum Michelle is her “long-term best mate”.

“Our kids have grown up together, she’s just a really good friend, so the whole four years ... I’ve just watched the heartache, the stress of what they’ve gone through trying to work out where the next dollar comes from to be able to pay for everything, Michelle not able to work because she’s had to be at hospital or look after Brennan at home.”

She says Michelle recently reached out to friends for help after the family contacted a US-based specialist in Ewings Sarcoma who is able to do a consultation and treatment plan, at a cost.

“Finally there was something we could do to help and I came up with the idea of doing the fashion show. I’d done one for the Boobops [Dragon Boat team] last year to raise money for them,” says Maree.

“I’ve also relaunched as Ree Style, so I thought it was a good way to launch the rebrand and do a fashion fundraiser for them.”

A fundraising fashion show is being held for Brennan Miller, 19, who has Ewings Sarcoma.

Fashion on a Mission will take place at Te Puke Citizens RSA on November 7.

Maree is being helped by Nicola Morrison and Erin Williams. Erin has also set up a Givealittle page.

“We’ve been in touch with everyone we can think of to get gifts and things for auctions,” says Maree.

The show will comprise three sections with clothing from Ree Style and a new-to-Te Puke high-end Australian label, Kachel, will feature in another.

Hats by Whistler and Reid will also be part of the show that will end with costumes from Costume Call.

“It will be like Te Puke’s very own WOW,” says Maree.

Among the entertainment will be Te Puke Intermediate School’s Aims Games hip-hop crew and Te Puke Repertory Society with a vignette from its forthcoming production, The Ladykillers.

There will be spot prizes, raffles, a silent auction and a live auction with auctioneer Val Ditchfield.

Michelle Cliff will be the MC. Tickets, including a glass of bubbles, are $35 and are limited to 200.

“It should be a great night for everybody to come out and support a really good cause. The biggest thing we need now is ticket sales,” says Maree.

After Brennan’s initial diagnosis, he went through extensive chemotherapy and a 10-hour surgery, to remove his humerus and shoulder.

During a year of remission, Brennan slipped off a cliff and severely fractured his femur.

His recovery was tough and, when he had just started using his leg again, he became unwell. His cancer had returned, showing as multiple tumours in his pleura just three weeks after he had been given the “all clear”.

Since then he has endured many more rounds of chemo and radiation to treat the tumours.

While the scans showed the cancer in his pleura has shrunk significantly, he now has tumours in his spine and pelvis.

Brennan recently completed round six of his latest treatment and the family is sending scan images to the American specialist. Then a decision will be made on the best course of treatment for Brennan.

Money raised at the fashion show and by the Givealittle page will go towards the consultation and any treatment, continued treatment in New Zealand and to help pay for a nutritionist specialising in cancer, to help with Brennan’s weight loss.

Givealittle page: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/brennan-miller-smashing-ewings-sarcoma-give?ref=home&ref_code=donation_feed.

To buy tickets for the fashion show or raffle tickets, call in at Ree Style on Jellicoe St or email Maree at maree@street2surf.co.nz.