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

13-year-old making her way through her bucket list loses her battle to cancer

Alice Guy
By Alice Guy
Reporter, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
10 Aug, 2018 04:25 AM3 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

Shenyce Marsden-Roberts was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of 11. Photo/Supplied

Shenyce Marsden-Roberts was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the age of 11. Photo/Supplied

Shenyce Marsden-Roberts, the bubbly 13-year-old who was making her way through her bucket list, has lost her two-year battle with a rare form of cancer.

She died on Wednesday.

In a post on the Supporting Shenyce Marsden-Roberts Facebook page, her mother Richelle Stables said the family had lost Shenyce in a battle "no child should have to fight".

"But she fought it, fought it as hard as she could, she is our soldier.

"No more pain and suffering our baby."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The post said Stables had also lost her "beautiful mum" on the same day.

"Your nanny held your hand the whole way, and she also chose to join you on your new journey. You will be well looked after by nanny my baby.

"You both will be missed and loved dearly."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Support has been flooding in on the Facebook page with comments sending love to the family.

"Such a strong beautiful young lady who fought so fiercely and bravely," one comment said.

"You get to share your next journey with your nanny who will definitely look after you and make sure you're safe, no more pain anymore."

Shenyce was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of 11, when doctors found a 14cm tumour between her ribs and lung.

Discover more

New Zealand

13-year-old gets help with bucket list

06 Aug 06:00 PM

Rotorua raises thousands for the Cancer Society this Daffodil Day

31 Aug 04:30 PM

In December 2016 she had a nine and a half hour surgery to have the tumour removed, which her mother said "felt like a lifetime".

After receiving the all-clear in March last year, Shenyce relapsed that October.

"A 4.5cm tumour was found in her lower back, and even though it was smaller, it was 10 times more active," Stables said.

By late April the tumours had spread into her back and around her lungs, becoming unresponsive to treatment.

Doctors stopped chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

"We had to share this with Shenyce, at only 13, that she was palliative," Stables said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Following her diagnosis, the family worked with Rotorua tourism operators to complete as much of her bucket list as they could.

Through the help of Andy Corson at Zorb Rotorua, Shenyce was able to go zorbing, luging, have a mud bath at Hell's Gate, on the Treetop walk in the Redwood forest, and was booked for even more.

The doctors had given her until Christmas, but she deteriorated rapidly.

She is survived by her parents Ara and Richelle and siblings Mokopapaki, Tu Rapaki, Kredence, Hine- Epuwai, Teliyah-Irie and Arapeta.

Shenyce and her nanny are both laying at Rangimarie Marae and will be laid to rest on Monday at 11am at Ringaringa Urupa.

What is rhabdomyosarcoma?
- Childhood rhabdomyosarcoma is a disease in which cancer cells form in muscle tissue.
- Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common type of soft tissue sarcoma in children. It can begin in many places in the body.
- Recent estimates show the incidence of the disease at about 4.5 cases per 1 million children/adolescents.
- It accounts for about 3.5 per cent of cancer cases among children ages 0 to 14.
- There are different types of treatment for patients with childhood rhabdomyosarcoma the standard types are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

18 Jun 05:23 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

18 Jun 03:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

18 Jun 12:40 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

'Life-changing': International flights return to Hamilton Airport

18 Jun 05:23 AM

Jetstar's first planes to Sydney and Gold Coast have taken off from Hamilton this week.

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

'I hate him': Partner of slain Tribesman lays blame for death at president's feet

18 Jun 03:00 AM
Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

Baby-killing Mobster loathed being called 'kid killer' in prison, so he murdered again

18 Jun 12:40 AM
'Just having a breather': Volcanic plume prompts social media buzz

'Just having a breather': Volcanic plume prompts social media buzz

17 Jun 11:45 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

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