Masterchef winners Kasey Bird (left) and Karena Bird shared their message for the Smear your Mea campaign. Photo / File
Masterchef winners Kasey Bird (left) and Karena Bird shared their message for the Smear your Mea campaign. Photo / File
A lifetime of memories could be left behind if whānau do not support their wāhine to get checked - that is the message from celebrity chef sisters Kasey and Karena Bird on Smear Your Mea day.
And they would know. When Karena, of Te Arawa, was 5 she said goodbyeto her Nan after a battle against cervical cancer. And there hasn't been many days since when her grandmother hasn't crossed her mind.
Smear Your Mea was set up by the late Talei Morrison in 2017 to raise awareness and promote advocacy and support through early detection, treatment and prevention of cervical cancer, for kaihaka, their whānau and their communities.
Yesterday's 2019 National Smear Your Mea Day marked three years since the Māori women's health movement's founder was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer.
Karena and Kasey Bird lost their Nan to cervical cancer 💔 she wasn’t able to follow her moko on their journey. And this...
Because of her Nan, Karena told the Rotorua Daily Post the importance of a check-up was always understood, but she hoped people would understand the effect of not having a smear test.
"It certainly affected us and our whānau, and so many times we were doing things and we think, 'oh man it would be so cool if our Nan was here to see everything that we've been up to' because she was an amazing host and a really good cook as well.
"I think the more we talk about it the less scary it is. It's not just wāhine either, the entire whānau need to be checking on each other. It goes beyond the one wāhine, it's for everybody."
Talei Morrison established Smear in 2017 to raise awareness and promote advocacy and support through early detection. Photo / File
The National Smear Your Mea Day comes just after the two-year anniversary of Morrison's death on June 16, 2018, aged 42.
The renowned kapa haka performer had her last smear in 2008, and due to the distressing experience, she did not return to have one again until her diagnosis.
The #SmearYourMea Charitable Trust was established to continue to educate and change the attitude towards smears, working with health providers to promote free and accessible screening.
Smear Your Mea chairman Eruera Keepa, who is Morrison's brother, said Sunday was a day when his sister was front and centre of his mind, but the campaign had moved slightly away from Talei now.
Sandy Morrison, (left) with great granddaughter Hine-ki-te-ao-marama Sotogi, 6 months, who was born just after her grandmother Talei Morrison, (right) died. Photo / File
He said fewer people had been screened this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He believed about 50,000 fewer tests had been done compared with this time last year.
"It's [Smear Your Mea] about saving lives.
"If our campaign means one woman has gone for her cervical screening, that's enough for me. That is success."
