Help out our mate Mr Spencer

Help Mark Spencer (Service Adviser for Land Rover Greenlane) to laugh in the face of cancer. Mark has been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. He is currently half way through his chemotherapy treatment. He has been taking it all in his stride and is an inspiration to all.

Mark is well-liked and well respected by both staff and customers of Archibald and Shorter Roverland Ltd.

To help pay for Mark’s treatment Mark Jackson (Service Manager Greenlane) will be completing Iron Man New Zealand 2015. Any additional funds donated will be given to cancer research.

Iron Man is a grueling race taking place 7th March 2015. The race consists of:

3.90 km swim

180 km bike

42 km run

Mark Jackson has done over 150 triathlons, 7 Half Iron Man and 1 other Full Iron Man. This year Mark's goal is to beat his last time of 15 hours and 37 minutes for Mark Spencer.

A message from Patricia (Mark's Partner):

When we first heard that Mark had cancer we were shocked and felt trapped, we really had two choices: break down or break through. Breaking down was never an option for Mark and he has had the strength to break through.

Through his optimistic way of life he has shown everyone what means to be strong and to love life. He has never once let cancer affect his mood or bring him down. Mark is thankful to live each day and his attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

During chemo, he does feel more tired than he has ever been and he does not let that affect him and, like a cloud passing over the sun, suddenly he is out and he is happy.

First he did not know what to expect, things like small jobs, or tasks that would be hard to handle might make him feel weak, however through his will power he has found that he is stronger than he has ever been.

He will defeat the enemy because he has faced it and he sees mortality at a more optimal distance than most, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give him that depth perception. The way to describe this is that previously, it would have taken weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now it’s instantaneous and he is living every minute the best way he can.

I love you Spencer for all that you are and the person we all have learnt to respect and admire more.

“One must not forget that recovery is brought about not by the physician, but by the sick man himself. He heals himself, by his own power, exactly as he walks by means of his own power, or eats, or thinks, breathes or sleeps.” ~Georg Groddeck, The Book of the It, 1923