Together for Riley

$56,665 donated

Given by 365 generous donors in around 4 months

This page is a way for friends, family, and community to stand behind Riley and his whānau during his osteosarcoma treatment journey.

Hawke's Bay

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Riley is a determined 12-year-old whose world revolves around sport — especially cricket and football — games he not only loves but truly excels at. He has recently been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer that affects only around 4–5 children in New Zealand each year. This diagnosis has gutted and shocked us all, turning our lives upside down as we face what lies ahead for Riley and his family.

For his parents, Chris and Sally, and his sister Belle, everything changed in an instant. Riley is now facing months of intensive treatment, including long hospital stays and specialist care, with time spent in Starship Hospital for approximately 12 months. At just 12 years old, life should be about school, mates, and time on the sports fields — not hospital wards and treatment plans.

Chris and Sally’s focus is entirely on supporting Riley through treatment while also being there for Belle. Alongside the emotional toll comes significant financial pressure — time off work, travel, accommodation, and everyday living costs that don’t pause during this journey.

This Givealittle page has been set up to help ease some of that burden so the family can focus on what matters most: Riley’s treatment, recovery, and time together.

Riley — we are all here behind you. Your family, friends, and community are standing with you every step of the way.

Every donation, no matter the size, will make a real difference. Thank you for your kindness and support.

Rebecca Christie's involvement (page creator)

Chris and Sally are very close friends of mine and watching what their family is about to face has been incredibly hard. This page has been created with their blessing, from a place of love, to help support them through Riley’s treatment.

Use of funds

Funds raised will help support Riley and his family with the very real costs that come with long-term cancer treatment, including time off work, travel, accommodation, parking, meals, and everyday household expenses while Riley undergoes treatment.

Latest update

Update on Riley 17 May 2026

Riley’s had his surgery this week, which went really well. He spent 8.5hrs in theatre. It was an incredibly complex surgery but he had the top team working on him who all looked after him amazingly and it all went to plan. In very simple terms, his leg now has donor bone, repositioned bone and muscle, re-attached vessels, plates, screws, staples, skin grafts and, most importantly, hopefully no more tumor! He’s been on bed rest this week, in a big backslab cast and a big splint to keep it all still and straight.

Recovery so far is going well. Epidurals out and he’s managing the pain like an absolute champ. He’s keeping the team busy trying to figure out why his heart rates a bit high and had more tests, pokes and prods this week than many have had in a lifetime. But the team are on it and he’s being well looked after.

Next week the plan is to go back into theatre and get new dressings and cast, start some physio/ get out of bed a bit and into his wheelchair, then all going well, maybe back on the chemo end of next week. But just taking it day by day at this stage.

Thank you all so much for your ongoing support, it really does mean the world to us.

The Burchs xx

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On average, fundraisers pay just 2% to use Givealittle. This is one of the lowest effective fees in New Zealand fundraising. We charge a 5% platform fee to cover the cost of running the platform. Because most donors choose to top up their donation to cover this fee, the effective cost paid by fundraisers is about 2%. That means around 98 cents of every dollar raised goes to the cause. Learn More