Rawiri’s Journey to Surgery

We all set a goal in life and try to conquer it with everything that we have. We make sacrifices for these goals that effect not only ourselves but our loved ones. They watch us endure pain, sleepless nights, tears of frustration but they never give up on us. We try our hardest to not only make them proud but everyone else that’s watching our journey. In 2014 our Brother, Son, Papa, Grandson, Nephew, Dear Friend and Role model embarked on a journey that he thought would change his life forever. And for the most part is has. Rawiri (Daedae, Pingy Wingy or David) challenged himself in ways that we never thought imaginable, he set a goal alongside his wahine to complete the bicycle leg of IronMāori (Half Ironman 91km bike ride) in Napier. As most of you know Rawiri is a big believer in the spiritual realm of Maoridom. Not everything in life is a coincidence, but the day he walked into that bike shop to find a bike that would hold him, a young man and a true blessing to our Whanau, Nathan Martin walked in and from that moment onward Rawiri’s journey to weight loss started.

It was hard, it was stressful, it was long and frustrating but in the end, Rawiri got there and we all got to join him and Nathan on this beautiful journey. Filling so many hearts with joy and so many eyes with tears, Rawiri crossed that finish line and we were all there to watch him, and man was it a sight to see. One of the proudest memorable moments to be apart of.

The following year, Rawiri went on to complete the entire IronMaori Half Ironman event (2.1km swim, 91km cycle and 21km walk) with an amazing bunch of people and his supportive whanau. Life and weight loss were at it’s peak for Rawiri. He and his beautiful supportive wife were expecting their second son, life couldn’t have been any better.

So we come to 2016, when Rawiri commenced a new journey to become a Minister of the Ratana Church. Again with the support of his whanau, Rawiri was ordained in 2018. Another milestone to add to his belt of achievements. You see, Rawiri is a servant for his people and when he gets the call, he drops everything and goes to support his whanau at times without thinking about the consequences to himself and his own whanau. This also took a strain on his diet, training and lifestyle as the travelling and everyday challenges of the simple life caught up with him. He always gives 100% to others, but for some reason he puts himself and his health on the back burner. He does his mahi and attends as many tangi as he can, during all of this he applies for another position within the Department of Corrections and low and behold he gains the position that moves him from Wellington back home to Kaikohe.

This short story above is almost 5 years compacted into a few paragraphs. Fast forward to today and Rawiri’s weight has again become a life threatening burden. Amongst all the living, and natural ability to always lend a hand for everyone else around him, our Tuakana Rawiri forgot about himself and his own diet. If you know our brother like we do, you would know he has the purest heart of gold and never asks for anything in return for any of the mahi he does and continues to do for his whanau, church and community.

So as his family we are reaching out to everyone to “give a little” to help our Tuakana achieve a long filled life by donating a few dollars for a gastric bypass operation. This life changing operation will help Rawiri to continue his duties within our lives and everyone else’s he’s apart of.

A Gastric bypass surgery refers to a surgical procedure in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. This will be the tool to help Rawiri maintain a diet that will lead to a faster weight loss goal over a guesstimated two year period minimum.

So if you could find it in your heart to help Rawiri cross this finish line and donate a couple of dollars to this life changing operation his Whanau and his friends will forever be thankful knowing our tuakana and leader will be around longer to continue his duties that involve us all as one.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takimano

My strength is not that of a individual, But that of the collective

No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, Tena koutou Katoa 💙