Matiu Taingahue raised $13,000 for the Far North Community Hospice. From left, Matiu Taingahue, Carol Lidmila, Anne-Marie Dykes, Erin Walsh, Kate Van Kan, Jill Iti, Damian Marsh
Matiu Taingahue raised $13,000 for the Far North Community Hospice. From left, Matiu Taingahue, Carol Lidmila, Anne-Marie Dykes, Erin Walsh, Kate Van Kan, Jill Iti, Damian Marsh
When Matiu Taingahue crossed the finish line of his 1100km bike ride across New Zealand he wasn’t just celebrating personal recovery.
He was riding for others too and raised $13,000 for the Hospice Far North.
Powered by purpose and the spirit of giving back, the high-performance coach, osteopath and cancersurvivor with strong ties to the Far North crossed rugged and rural terrain and on Monday handed over the funds personally to the organisation.
Two days before Christmas in 2023, Taingahue was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the throat and neck.
He embarked on the cycling adventure – riding from East Cape to Cape Egmont across the widest part of New Zealand via the challenging 1100km Kōpiko route. The journey includes approximately 16,000m of climbing (equivalent to nearly two ascents of Mt Everest) through remote, hilly terrain with limited services and accommodation options.
He was joined by his best mate, Dr Damian Marsh, senior medical officer at Kaitāia Hospital and a doctor for Far North Hospice.
High-performance coach, osteopath - and cancer survivor - Matiu Taingahue cycled for a good cause, raising money for Mid North Hospice.
“Thankfully it was treatable, and I went through treatment, and in that process I had a lot of realisations about a lot of things. One of those was I got to have that experience and walk away, while for a number of people that have that experience, it is their last experience,” he said.
He said he wanted to challenge himself physically by celebrating 21 months of treatment by doing the cycle.
“When I finished treatment, I was at my lowest physical point, I couldn’t even walk across the lounge without needing a rest.”
Five days into the ride, he celebrated walking out of treatment and said he was happy to be able to help those who rely on an organisation like Hospice, which is underfunded.
Hospice Far North chief executive Jillian Iti said the funds are much needed and they feel privileged to have been chosen as a beneficiary.
“We are very underfunded. At best, we are funded for 40% of our operational costs.”
“It’s an ongoing battle to provide these services and being able to have something like this, a lump sum donation, to be able to continue doing our work is phenomenal.”
“We are in a rural community and fatigue is a real issue and having to reach out to the same people can be hard.”
She said there will be something specific the funds will go towards, like possibly getting their vehicles sorted out.
“One of our vehicles had to have repairs so we can put it towards that. Nurses have had to take their own cars, that is just one of the ways we have had to be creative.”
