Whanganui man’s ultramarathon to support fiancee’s work with dying patients

Dr Libby Sampey with her partner Karol Stanski who is running 100km at the Taupō ultramarathon for Hospice Whanganui. Photo / Eva de Jong

The pain of running 100km through off-road terrain in Taupō is worth it for Karol Stanski to help Whanganui patients experience a more comfortable death.

After moving here from Scotland last year, Stanski’s fiancee Dr Libby Sampey has been helping patients at Hospice Whanganui confront death and to die with dignity in their own homes.

She said a lot of people don’t know what death looks like or what to expect.

“One thing people often say about my work is, ‘oh how on earth do you manage to do that?’

“It’s an emotional thing for most people dying and bereavement, and a lot of people don’t know what to expect.

“It is scary.”

At Hospice Whanganui there are currently two doctors who oversee about 90 patients in the community, alongside a small team of nurses, healthcare assistants and social workers.

Sampey said her day-to-day work in palliative care involved helping people to make personal choices around death and supporting them with medication for pain relief.

“It’s a surprisingly positive environment, people think of palliative care and death as a sad environment but I’ve seen so much more hope and optimism within this space than any other I’ve worked in.”

Witnessing his fiancee and the Hospice Whanganui team help patients and their families opened Stanski’s eyes.

“I think from an outside perspective when people think of hospice they see it as a sad, grey place to die – but it’s the opposite.

“I wanted to have more of a direct impact and I love running, and I thought this would be a good opportunity.”

To prepare for the Taupō ultramarathon Stanski has been running between 70-80km per week, but a background in rowing has set him up with a love for physical endurance tests.

He expects the race to take him between 12-13 hours and to push him to his limits.

“Even if you’re body is tired you can still push it to a certain extent – I think it’s more mental.”

As New Zealand faces an ageing population services such as palliative care will become more stretched.

Sampey said the demand for Hospice Whanganui’s services was likely to increase as a result.

“The number of people needing palliative care support is just going to grow and grow.”

Whanganui is a small place and Sampey said it was easy to get emotionally attached to patients but maintaining professional distance was necessary.

She said death was often treated as a taboo subject despite the fact it was inevitable for everyone.

“It’s something that everyone is going to go through and so we need to talk about it.”

Donations can be made to Hospice Whanganui through Stanski’s Givealittle page.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.