Weaver Family

A Blenheim family reeling from a terminal cancer diagnosis may have to move out of their family home.

Yvonne and Donald Weaver are left with an annual income of $24,000 after Yvonne, the sole earner, fell ill with breast and bone cancer last year.

Yvonne said being in her home of 24 years helped her to relax and gave her a sense of belonging.

"I can sit in the little chair under the tree and I can listen to the birds and the crickets and feel the sun and the wind on my skin. It feels like heaven," she said.

"At sunset you can see the light change. It's just wonderful."

But the couple are struggling to make ends meet on their limited income and it is possible they might have to sell the home where they raised their 17-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son.

Yvonne, 52, was an early childhood teacher before her diagnosis, while Donald, 75, is retired.

Family friend Corey Broughton has stepped in to help with the family's day-to-day costs by setting up a bank account and Give A Little fundraising page for the family.

He became friends with Donald and Swiss-born Yvonne while coaching their son's soccer team.

"She's very community-minded," Broughton said.

"She was always at the soccer field with a cow bell. In some form [the fundraiser] is like pay back." Yvonne worked at St Mary's Preschool before she was diagnosed with cancer in July last year.

She had been feeling unwell for some time and had lost weight, but it was not until she was taken to Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim, by ambulance that she realised something was seriously wrong.

The support from hospital staff, hospice workers and the community had been amazing, Yvonne said.

"Without all that support from the community I don't think I would be where I am. I feel like I've been carried on wings."

Well-wishers had banded together to buy a discounted double adjustable hospital bed from Harvey Norman, while St Mary's Preschool children had made her cards and drawings.

Her journey through cancer had taught her not to sweat the small things, Yvonne said.

"I have to say it's so good to be alive.

"To live every day is a gift."

To donate: The Miracle Account, ANZ, 060577 0192553 12. Or visit the Give a Little website: givealittle.co.nz/cause/weaver.