“Now I get regular prostate checks and colonoscopies to give me that piece of mind that I’m doing okay.”
The Smear Your Mea campaign was started by the late Rotorua mother, teacher and kapa haka star Talei Morrison who was battling cervical cancer, eventually succumbing to the disease in 2018.
Morrison used her social media platform to talk about her cervical cancer journey, encouraging wāhine and people with cervixes to be screened early for the illness.
In memory of Morrison, the Smear Your Mea Trust was established and an inaugural group of ten cyclists rode from Rotorua to Wellington in February 2019 to raise funds and awareness about cervical and prostate cancer.
Walker explained how his brother’s battle with cancer had also pushed him to make changes to his own hauora (health).
“My outlook on health has always been a pattern of ‘all or nothing’, but that changed after deciding to take a more measured approach,” Walker said.
“I just started by walking on the beach, getting out and breathing in the fresh air.
“Then I did a bit of running- which I enjoy but not big distances- followed by seeing a chiropractor and sorting out my nutrition.
“I learned with training that just getting out the door, even if you feel like crap, will eventually feel good and you’ll wonder why it was so hard to make the move.”
The 55-year-old said while he wouldn’t consider himself a “riding nut”, he’d always enjoyed cycling, which he’d started as a teenager in the 1980s.
He explained how his dad had bought him a bike which he’d ridden from Ahipara to Kaitaia to his job at Pakn’Save.
Walker said after that, he took a hiatus from riding, until a friend invited him to take part in the 160km Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge some years ago.
“I trained hard for that, got hooked and ended up doing that challenge seven more times,” he said.
“The reason why I decided to do the [Smear Your Mea] ride this year was because I had become overweight, I had no drive and Covid-19 was stressing me out.
“I only have one lung, so if I lose that one, I’m pretty much done. I also look after my elderly sister, which has its own stresses, so I needed to get my head back in the game.”
Walker thanked Flavell for inviting him back to this year’s ride and had been riding his bike on Te One Roa a Tohe (90 Mile Beach) since September 2022.
He said by the time he got to the start line in Wellington, he would have clocked around 2000km, including the roundtrip to Cape Reinga and back (177km).
“Talei Morrison’s goal was to get all the wāhine competing in Te Matatini kapa haka to get checked before they went on stage,” Walker said.
“She was so inspirational and we lost her way too soon. So, what is the stage you’re going to be walking onto?
“Participating in a sport, going fishing, playing with your kids or your moko. Get checked now so you can be around to share the stage with your whānau.”
From February 14-21 Walker will join 16 other riders from around the motu (country) to ride north from Wellington to Tāmaki (Auckland), arriving in time for the start of the 2023 Te Matatini national kapa haka competition at Eden Park.
The event is sponsored by Taupō-based dairy company Miraka, with Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand supporting the ride through its Time to Screen National Cervical Screening Programme.
According to the Ministry of Health, around 160 women each year in Aotearoa New Zealand will develop cervical cancer with approximately 50 dying from the disease.
Statistics from Victoria University’s Faculty of Health showed Māori women were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer than non-Māori women and were two-and-a-half times more likely to die from it.
