For Holly Bonney, a Queenstown summer camp provided a series of happy childhood memories that served as a welcome antidote to an infancy dominated by hospital visits.
Diagnosed with stage 3 neuroblastoma at just 10 months old, Miss Bonney's start to life was precarious.
Her mother, Kerry Bonney, recalled the moment she discovered a lump in her daughter's neck.
"I was just changing her and I noticed her neck was swollen.
"I thought ‘oh, that doesn't look normal," Mrs Bonney said.
She and her husband took their infant daughter to Dunedin hospital, where staff asked questions about her vomiting, before keeping her overnight and getting a scan in the morning.
"It just snowballed from there basically. Within a couple of hours we were flying to Christchurch."
The regimen involved six months of chemotherapy followed by six months of oral medication.
Miss Bonney, of Allanton, said because the medical care began so early, it was "kind of normal" for her.
"It is a pretty big deal ... but I don’t really think about it that much," Miss Bonney said.
While she is now in remission, she continues to undergo check-ups and fertility testing as a result of the early intervention.
For many years as a child, she enjoyed a week of adventure attending Camp Quality, a nationwide charity providing camps and recreational activities for youth living with cancer.
Miss Bonney attended the Southern region camp at Kelvin Heights annually from the age of 6 to about 12, sometimes accompanied by her twin brother, Sam.
The camps offered a chance to forget health struggles and simply be children.
"I remember one year we went on a helicopter."
"The fire brigade would sometimes come and show us through their fire truck."
A highlight was a visit to Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell.
"Going on the cars and all of that.
The organisation matches companions with children to join in activities alongside them.
"I always looked up to my companions when I was younger.
"I still remember a lot of them and sometimes we will be walking down the street and I will recognise some of them and they will recognise me."
Miss Bonney vowed to return as a companion when she was old enough.
"It’s always been something I wanted to do."
She was finally able to enlist for her first camp last year.
She returned from her second camp earlier this month, helping Emily Kernohan, 6, the same age Miss Bonney was when she first attended.
"I did see a lot of similarities between me when I was her age. She’s so cute."
"A lot of my good memories as a kid come from camp, so it is cool to give the kids now that same memory."
Miss Bonney said Camp Quality was a very well-run organisation.
"What they do is just unbelievable.
"It is so cool. It is so inspiring, like what they do for the kids."
Camp Quality New Zealand general manager Sam Fellows said the summer camps existed to give children living with cancer a break from the hard stuff.
"A place where they can have fun, build confidence and feel a real sense of belonging."
The organisation was grateful for volunteers like Miss Bonney.
"Having experienced cancer herself, she connects with campers in a way that is incredibly genuine and reassuring."
When former participants return as companions, it is a powerful reminder of the programme’s long-term impact.
"They are giving back to the very place that helped shape them and in doing so, creating that same sense of joy, connection and confidence for the next generation," Mr Fellows said.
