Rotorua father Daniel Hazelwood died after a battle with prostate cancer on December 12, 2024.
Rotorua father Daniel Hazelwood “fought with all he had” to see the birth of his first grandchild.
But the 62-year-old missed out after he lost his battle with cancer about a month before she was born.
His wife, Shirley Hazelwood, said he died on December 12 and was “the most amazing husband” and father to their four daughters.
She is now continuing his “legacy” to encourage men to get checked for prostate cancer.
“It could save your life,” she said.
Daniel told the Rotorua Daily Post in September last year that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in August 2021.
He had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy at Tauranga and Rotorua Hospitals, but was told last year he could not be treated further in the public system.
Daniel spent $36,000 on two sessions of a private prostate cancer treatment called Lutetium-177 PSMA at Auckland’s Mercy Hospital.
He said he would find out in September if the treatment was working.
This week, Shirley said they went for a check-up and discovered the treatment had not helped.
“The cancer had spread through his bones,” she said.
“At that point, they said it was pointless carrying on.”
Shirley said Daniel was still “determined” despite going into palliative care.
He remained active amid multiple hospital admissions for blood transfusions, she said.
“It got to the stage when the blood transfusions weren’t working, and then it was more or less two weeks later, he passed.”
Shirley said they had been together for 43 years, 39 of those married.
“His absence is the loudest silence.”
Shirley said he had been fighting to stay alive to see his granddaughters born, which he missed out on.
The first was born in January this year, and the second in March.
“It is really, really sad, but in the meantime, we had two daughters married. He hung on to that with all his life.”
Shirley said he was a loyal friend and a man of integrity “who lived out his faith and helped wherever he was needed“.
Shirley said their family and the Rotorua Rotary Club had organised a Blue Walk to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Blue September is the foundation’s annual awareness month.
Shirley said the family-friendly walk would start at the Village Green on the Rotorua Lakefront on September 25 at 5.30pm.
Participants are encouraged to wear blue, and there will be spot prizes.
Registration open one hour before the walk and cost $10 for participants aged 13 and older. For children 12 and younger, it costs $2 or a koha (donation).
There would be a sausage sizzle beforehand.
Shirley said the family had organised the walk to continue Daniel’s “legacy” of encouraging men to get checked.
“What mattered most to him was not his own struggle but the mission he carried so deeply in his heart to urge men to get checked.
“He would often say, ‘If all my effort helps even just one man, then it’s worth it, because that one man is someone’s husband, father, son, grandson, or friend’.”
The Prostate Cancer Foundation said more than 700 New Zealand men died from prostate cancer annually.
Consultant urologist Jim Duthie said men older than 50 needed to embrace regular health monitoring.
“Not having visited a GP in 20 years is not a badge of honour,” Duthie said.
“A yearly health check should be as routine as getting your car’s WOF – as much for your own sake as for those who love you.”
Duthie said a diagnosis impacted the whole whānau.
The risk of developing it increased by up to 11 times if a first or second-degree relative had prostate or breast cancer, he said.
“If your GP isn’t offering you a regular PSA test, you need to start asking as soon as you hit the 50 milestone, and even earlier if you have a family history of the disease.”
Foundation chief executive Peter Dickens said the disease was “highly treatable” when detected early.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.