Clyde resident and Clyde and Districts Lions Club member James Whyte, along with his daughter, Shannon Thomson, and two grandsons, Asher Thomson and Jimmy Whyte, kayaked from Cromwell to the Clyde Dam to raise money for the national Row for Life campaign, which would support four charities, including one dear to Mr Whyte’s heart.
After spending more than five hours on the water, into a head wind, Mr Whyte became emotional as he talked about the importance of the Lions melanoma skin check bus, the charity he was raising money for.
"Had a piece out of there about three months ago," he said, indicating his upper arm.
That piece was a melanoma he had removed, this one into the muscle in his arm. The retired farmer has battled skin cancers, including melanoma, for decades.
In the past two years, Mr Whyte has had about seven melanomas removed as well as other skin cancers.
Mr Whyte was passionate about ensuring everyone had access to early skin cancer detection.
The family were supported by crews from Oreti Surf Life Saving Club, who had come to Central Otago for the row, the Coast Guard and Row for Life organiser Ian Hamilton, of Invercargill, in the boat he planned to row along the entire east coast of New Zealand, beginning at Stewart Island in December.
Mr Hamilton said Clyde was his home town and it was great to be there with Mr Whyte and his family.
A piper greeted the tired crews as they arrived at Dunstan Arm. Mr Hamilton said music was a tribute to those who had died of cancer and those battling it.
Row for Life would begin at Port Pegasus, at Stewart Island, on December 2 and finish at Cape Reinga in July. People would be rowing with him along the way, Mr Hamilton said.
Lions planned to initially fund two customised skin cancer-check vehicles, one on each main island, offering full-body screening by trained health professionals. If any issues were detected, a referral would be sent to the patient’s GP for further action.
The mobile service would move from town to town and be available at field days and other public events.
The other three charities were Child Cancer Foundation, Starship Hospital and Surf Lifesaving New Zealand. All money raised during Row for Life would be split equally between the charities.
