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10 Oct
10 October 2024
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Free rides inject joy for palliative care patients

The smiles and the laughter kept on coming at Manfeild in Feilding on Wednesday as about 60 people living with terminal illness took a day off to enjoy a dose of speed.

The first Race4Life visit to the central North Island saw patients transformed into VIPs for the day, lining up for laps around the Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, for rides in classic cars, in a helicopter, on motorbikes and a selection of trucks.

Anastasia Walsh from Martinborough was no sooner off the helicopter than she was putting on a helmet alongside husband Sam and son Xavier to enjoy a fast ride.

The young woman found a breast lump that the couple first thought was mastitis when daughter Esmae, now 2½, was just a 3-month-old.  She now had stage four breast cancer which had spread to her brain.
 

But those worries were set aside for the day while the team of volunteers, drivers and sponsors gathered around Race4Life Trust general manager Viv James to shower all of the palliative care patients and their families with food and gifts and thrills to remember.

The aim of Race4LifeTrust was to enable people living with life-limiting illness to realise dreams that they and their families could cherish.

“Our mission is to seek to provide people with the means to fulfil their wishes.”

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