Dry July: Four Canterbury brothers top fundraising team in support of dad’s cancer fight

The Plunkett Boys: (From left), Ollie, Tom, Ben, dad Tony and William.

It’s 23 days into Dry July and Tom Plunkett is a bit parched but he knows it’s for a good cause.

The Windwhistle farmer and his brothers Will, Ben and Olly have sworn off the booze for a month to support their dad Tony in his fight against cancer.

The brothers hail from Rakaia Gorge. Two of them are farmers following in their dad’s footsteps and the other two are pilots – one in Australia and the other learning to fly in Cust.

Tom, who is the Plunkett Boys’ team leader, said they were partial to a beer or two so they knew Dry July was going to be a challenge.

“It does involve a bit of discipline and a bit of sacrifice,” he told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.

The brothers haven’t been going it alone.

“We knew it was going to be a big job but … the support from the community and family and friends keeps you going.

“The support’s been out the gate.”

This effort has paid off, catapulting the Plunkett brothers to the top of the team event for Dry July so far.

At the time of writing, the Plunkett Boys had raised $16,154.40 of their $17,000 target.

Dad Tony is also part of the team.

A respected community figure, Tony runs a cadet school for young farmers.

Tom said his dad’s cancer treatment had been tough on the family.

Farmer Tony Plunkett is also part of the Dry July team with his sons.

“He had it six years ago and they put him through a very heavy dose of chemo and radiation for about eight weeks.

“It was a bit of that old ‘you’ve got to kill the patient to kill the cancer’ – and hope the patient recovers.

“So that knocked the whole family.”

Listen below:

Unfortunately, the cancer came back almost six years to the day, Tom said.

“He got a sore throat and what do you know? The cancer’s come knocking back again.”

Things progressed quickly from there, with the family learning the results within two to three weeks.

Tom said the doctor gave his dad two options.

“Either we take your throat out – which is your voice box and everything – or you bloody die.

“So obviously he took option one.”

With his dad facing a battle at the relatively young age of 62, Tom and his brothers thought Dry July would be a good way to raise some money and awareness.

As for his own challenge, the 32-year-old said not drinking was a new experience.

Mackay asked him if he’d ever been a month without a beer.

“I haven’t even been one day, really.”

You can support the Plunkett Boys’ fundraising efforts here.

Also in today’s interview: Plunkett talks about on-farm conditions in Canterbury.