FULL-ON: Raybane Kinzett-Hume waits for the nod to run on the ball at the All Blacks vs Australia Bledisloe Cup match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
FULL-ON: Raybane Kinzett-Hume waits for the nod to run on the ball at the All Blacks vs Australia Bledisloe Cup match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Bullying victim Raybane Hume-Kinzett on Saturday became a rugby star when he ran on the ball for the All Blacks versus Australia test in Wellington.
The Carterton School pupil, 11, suffers acute and chronic eczema and, at 1.56m tall weighed about 80kg in March when he tried to strangle himselfwith a skipping rope in an attempt to escape schoolyard torment about his skin condition and size.
His mother, Sharlee Hume, told the Wairarapa Times-Age shocked classmates wrestled the rope from her son, who later the same day collapsed and was taken to a nearby medical centre by ambulance.
Ms Hume said a Greytown family friend, Christine Ammunson, had in the wake of the incident nominated Raybane for a draw to run on the ball at the All Black vs Australia Bledisloe Cup match on Saturday at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
Raybane performed his duties on Saturday decked out in the junior All Black strip, which he gets to keep, and was full to the brim with excitement and enthusiasm, his mother said.
His mother and elder sister Amarige, 19, accompanied him on a "walkabout" after he laid the ball in the middle of the stadium field and held an arm aloft in a wave to the cheering crowds.
"It was awesome. I was really nervous but Raybane wasn't at all. He did a really good job. We were all really proud of him.
"He didn't get to meet the All Blacks but was so full-on and excited he just about walked out in front of them when they came out of the tunnel."
Raybane had earlier this year also made the pages of a national magazine in the wake of the Wairarapa Times-Age story and his All Black exploits on Saturday were beamed live to a national radio audience as well, with the All Blacks' 27-16 victory neatly sealing his success.
