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Ōrewa local Neville Modlin inspired his community recently, running 161.8km in 23 hours and 55 minutes to pay tribute to his father who died from pancreatic cancer.
In late November 2024, when Neville’s father casually mentioned he was feeling “a little under the weather”, the family had no idea he would die only six weeks later after a short and intense journey with pancreatic cancer. This is becoming one of New Zealand’s deadliest cancers with 88 percent of Kiwis diagnosed dying within five years.
“The speed that everything progressed for my dad was totally unexpected,” Neville says. Within 10 days he was planning the estate, after 15 he became an expert in cancer medication and in 30 he was organising fulltime care and planning a funeral. Not to mention supporting his mum throughout the process of losing her partner of more than 60 years.
Neville channelled his grief into action, taking on his biggest personal challenge as part of The Gut Cancer Foundation’s #GutsyForGutCancer challenge, which raises critical funds and awareness for Kiwis battling gut cancer.
“What began as a personal challenge became a public journey. I never expected the magnitude of what unfolded. Apart from the first 4km, I was never alone” Neville says. Even at 3am he had local runners coming out to show their support and run alongside him, some of whom he had never met before.
Neville and his family have been blown away by the community support, both on the day, and in the fundraising campaign as they’ve now surpassed their initial fundraising goal almost sixfold.
Like many New Zealanders Neville didn’t know much about gut cancers when his father was diagnosed, “because he went downhill so fast there was little support. We were figuring it out one day at a time.”
Liam Willis, executive Officer of the Gut Cancer Foundation (GCF), says that gut cancer is the most common form of cancer in New Zealand with more tha 6100 Kiwis diagnosed every year.
“They have some of the worst survival rates of any cancers. Eight Kiwis die from gut cancer every day.”
The GCF funds innovative research, addresses barriers to treatment and is particularly focused on improving experiences similar to Neville’s by establishing a comprehensive pipeline to support patients and whanau with access to vital resources.
Liam says the GCF has created an online hub of resources that is a comprehensive source of information for anyone diagnosed with a gut cancer, and the team is on hand to answer questions they or their whanau may have.
“We are committed to developing this service to ensure we meet the need of our community so no one has to face a gut cancer diagnosis alone.”
The generosity of the GCF supporters and donations helps give New Zealanders access to international clinical trials. “By raising awareness of signs, symptoms and specific risk factors we hope to see these cancers detected earlier, increasing the chances of patients surviving their diagnosis.” Liam says.
To read more about Neville’s 161.8km #GutsyForGutCancer challenge visit https://gutsy-for-gut-cancer.raisely.com/neville-modlin
