Record
January 22 2014
Your Local Dealership
The
Further AvonGo City Ford
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Cnr Main South Rd & Epsom Rd Sockburn | Christchurch P 03 348 4129 or 0800 655 551 Rangiora Service Centre | 78 Ivory Street P 03 313 7059 | avoncityford.co.nz
10,500 copies distributed weekly to Rolleston, West Melton, Darfield and districts
West Melton family battles to keep dream alive by Belinda Cullen-Reid
Picnicking with bears Parents, children and their favourite stuffed animals descended on Rolleston Reserve last week for a Teddy Bear’s Picnic …
P2
Living off the land
For Kate Brunner of Kirwee, food is her passion and living off the land is a mantra she follows every day …
P8
Holidaying with irrigation’s help
While most of us think of our waterways as natural, the reality is many have been modified …
P10
When Adam and Sarah Collins and their three children sold their Christchurch home to fulfill their dream of moving to a lifestyle block in the country they had no idea their lives were about to be turned upside down. Just before Christmas 2008, a month after the family moved into their dream West Melton property, the family’s youngest child, five-year-old Maddie, woke in the morning with puffy eyes. “We just thought it was hay-fever,” Sarah Collins says. “I thought, great we’ve moved to the country and my daughter’s allergic to grass. I thought we’d take her to the doctor and get something for it and that would be it.” The family doctor examined Maddie and advised an immediate trip to hospital. She was diagnosed with a kidney disorder called Nephotic syndrome which is characterised by high levels of protein and swelling of the body tissue. “It’s the same disease that Jonah Lomu has. We were told she would probably grow out of it in six months.” Maddie was put on steroids, but was resistant to them and continued to be unwell. She was put on low dose chemotherapy for a further 13 weeks followed by immunosuppressant drugs. Nothing seemed to work. Sarah gave up work to look after Maddie but six months later she took a turn for the worse. An operation revealed spontaneous primary peritonitis — the fluid around her organs had become infected. Although doctors operated to
West Melton battler Maddie Collins and one of the family dogs Grace
clean out the infection a few days later Maddie’s condition worsened and her body began to shut down. “They intubated her and put her on life support. The Starship Retrieval Team (from Auckland) came and got her in the air ambulance. “It was like watching a movie that we were part of, and not part of. Maddie had another episode half way to Auckland. I had to stay in my seat and I wasn’t allowed near her. That was really hard.”
PROVIDING WATER SUPPLY SOLUTIONS TO THE CANTERBURY REGION FOR OVER 25 YEARS
It was a week before Maddie was stabilised enough to come off life support and a month before she could return to Christchurch, where she stayed an additional three months in hospital. Maddie was allowed home in time for Christmas in 2009, but she soon deteriorated. Another emergency trip to Auckland revealed the difficult truth of her condition. continued on page 6 …
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