Holly Robinson
Paralympian
Silver, silver, silver — bingo.
Arguably no-one has worked harder to get to the top step than Paralympian javelin thrower Holly Robinson.
The 26-year-old had to settle for silver at the 2017 world championships when her British rival Hollie Arnold bettered her effort of 42.41m with a throw of 43.02m in the women’s F46 category.
Robinson appeared to have banked gold the following year when she broke the world record with a throw of 43.32m at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
But, no, Arnold came through with a 44.43m throw 20 minutes later to nab the major prize.
Robinson continued to improve the distance she was throwing and reclaimed the world record with a heave of 45.73m at the Australian championships in April 2019.
But at the world championships in Dubai later that year her nemesis prevailed ... again. Gold for Arnold and Robinson took silver.
Sound familiar? It had to have been a little demoralising, and then Covid happened.
The Paralympics were put back a year and that would have been unsettling for Robinson and everybody else who had planned their lives around the event.
Robinson found the resolve to forge on and was one of only nine athletes to be chosen for the official video game of the Tokyo Paralympics.
But there is one thing better than being immortalised as a digital avatar — a gold medal. And this time Robinson would not be denied.
She hurled her last throw 40.99m to move from the bronze medal position into gold and then had to wait to see if Arnold could throw further.
Not this time.
"I was just waiting for that last throw to go," Robinson said at the time.
"Once it was gone, it’s just a moment you never forget."
- Adrian Seconi
Lauren Dewhirst
Advocate
Lauren Dewhirst has always been keen to help people.
When she was younger she had hoped to become a paramedic.
But after being diagnosed with a rare disability, Ms Dewhirst has taken a new angle for that passion.
She has spent years of her life making sure disabled people had the best experience possible during their time at the University of Otago.
When Ms Dewhirst was diagnosed with musculocontractural Ehlers-Danlos syndrome the world started to make a little more sense.
She had been having difficulties long before her diagnosis, but understanding the disability empowered her.
It also allowed her to channel her experiences into something positive.
Ms Dewhirst had always been interested in volunteering and helping out, but in 2019 she decided to push hard for disabled advocacy.
Since then she had become the Otago Disabled Students’ Association president, a member of the National Disabled Students’ Association and a University of Otago disabled representative.
One person advocating for disabled people was good, but amplifying voices by working together achieved much more, she said.
"It’s about trying to include disabled voices in the room."
She was proud to be one of those voices and her efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Ms Dewhirst was nominated as a finalist for the 2021 Attitude awards, which recognise people for their contributions to the lives of those in the disabled community.
She graduated from the University of Otago this year and was not quite sure what the future would hold, but she knew she wanted to continue in the disabled advocacy space.
- Wyatt Ryder
Advocate
Two years ago, Invercargill mum Trinette Wilton experienced unimaginable loss when her 22-year-old daughter Azalia was murdered by her ex-partner, with whom she had a daughter.
Her life has never been the same since, but Mrs Wilton has found a way to take her pain and grief and use it to educate and help others about domestic violence.
"All we’ve wanted to do, since the day Azalia passed away, is to help people and to not have this happens to anybody else.
"We would not be quiet and let this happen with other woman."
With the help of family, Mrs Wilton set up a business, with all profits given to domestic violence charities.
The Azalia Apparel is an online retail store which sells clothing with messages raising awareness about the issue.
Mrs Wilton has also been helping people in the community and across the country who approach her to speak about their own concerns with their relationships.
"It is a very heartening situation and keeps us motivated to help those people. Many reach us saying our story really help them."
She hoped she could honour the life of her daughter and, consequently, her granddaughter, who has been raised by her.
"Her death was not in vain. She did not die for nothing and we want people to be able to reach out and talk to us.
"There is no right way to deal with this, there is no magic trick to surviving those kinds of thing, but we hope our history can help other women to get out from those kinds of relationships."
- Luisa Girao
Levi
Cancer sniffer
After being the only animal selected for the top 20 people of 2021, cancer detection dog Levi could probably ask for a raise, or even renegotiate the terms of his leash.
Levi works for K9 Medical Detection New Zealand (K9MD) and can tell if bowel cancer is present in saline samples.
In June this year, in a world first, the Dunedin-trained German shepherd successfully completed the proof-of-concept stage of training by detecting bowel cancer samples in saline as low as 1% ratio.
The proof-of-concept test had never been successfully completed before, and the Bowel Cancer Foundation Trust and K9MD said it was a major step towards detecting bowel cancer using urine samples.
It is believed Levi’s nose will help reduce the overcrowded wait lists for early bowel cancer detection here in New Zealand.
At the moment, bowel screening wait lists are blowing out because they contain patients with bowel cancer, mixed in with those who have inflammatory and other bowel conditions.
The test will find those specific bowel cancer patients earlier and ultimately save lives.
Levi’s training has now moved on to stage two, which involves detecting bowel cancer in patient urine samples.
While being selected as one of the top 20 people of the year meant little to Levi, his personal assistant (also known as K9MD chief executive) Pauline Blomfield was ecstatic.
"I feel both proud and humbled to be selected.
"We’re incredibly proud that we’re able to work towards creating a simple diagnostic urine test for all New Zealanders, and we are also very proud that we are able to do this right here in Dunedin.
"Levi’s very fond of his toy. A real treat for him is playing with it and his trainer.
"I think we could renegotiate the amount of time they get playing with it."
- John Lewis
