Epic Lake Hawea - Malcolm Legget

It’s been a while since I have written to you to tell you about the amazing progress we have made at the Unicorn Foundation NZ, helping Kiwis with neuroendocrine cancer.

In April last year 32 brave riders faced all weathers, from Cape Reinga to Wellington, and in the process raised over $400,000 to enable us to achieve our goal of being able to fund the equipment necessary to provide a special type of PET scan for the many New Zealanders with neuro-endocrine cancer (NETs), who up until last November were unable to access appropriate diagnostic testing for this difficult type of cancer. Since we have established the scanner in Auckland, there have been over 70 Kiwis from all over the country who have been able to access this service and therefore gain more certainty about their disease and treatment options.

However, we are not stopping there. One of the most important and effective treatments is called PRRT, which is a specialised targeted treatment that has truly been a lifesaver for a huge number of patients with neuro-endocrine cancer, myself included. Currently this treatment is not available in New Zealand and therefore, sadly many Kiwis cannot afford the cost which is on average $50,000 for the first year and around $15,000 for each year after that. We aim to bring this treatment to New Zealand, and have it available to all who may benefit.

It seems to me that a lot of us ride various things – mainly bicycles but sometimes horses, segways, motorbikes, vintage cars etc. For that reason we have created our own new events website called “Ride for a Reason” www.rideforareason.org.nz

This weekend I am getting on my bike to get this into gear, by cycling around the beautiful Lake Hawea, 95 km of bumpy, hilly trails in an event called the Contact Lake Hawea Classic (www.lakehaweaepic.co.nz ) It will be tough , but well worth the effort, and I would be incredibly grateful for your support in my efforts to ride for the Unicorn Foundation NZ, to help bring better treatments and more awareness of NET cancer to New Zealand, as well as support ground breaking research that is happening at the University of Auckland.

Every donation helps support more patients and their families. Currently there are over 2000 Kiwis living with NETs, and 1 new case is diagnosed every day. We are a long way from finding a cure for this disease, but we can fight it by working together. If you want to “Ride for a Reason” in any event, please register your interest on our web site, and we will help you through the fundraising process.

Thank you again for your fantastic support, it is greatly appreciated and makes a real difference to NET patients and their families.

Kind regards and very best wishes,

Malcolm Legget

Chair, Unicorn Foundation New Zealand