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Generous offers from locals for cancer sufferer Blair Vining's plan for charity hospital in Invercargill

September 12, 2019

Blair Vining and wife Melissa have been lobbying the Government for action over long waiting lists for cancer diagnosis in the region.

The plan to build a community charity hospital in Invercargill has made progress after a meeting last night.

It comes as father of three and terminal bowel cancer sufferer Blair Vining, 39, and his wife Melissa work to help turn around the Southland's poor bowel cancer screening rates.

Since his diagnosis, Mr Vining and his wife Melissa have been doing everything they can to fight for better cancer care, including a petition signed by over 140,000 people and delivered to Parliament to establish a Cancer control agency - one which the Government agreed to put in their cancer action plan.

Doctors, surgeons and radiologists were among the large number of people to turn up to the meeting yesterday.

Local businesses have already come forward to offer donations of relocatable buildings, while others said they could help with building consents.

The initial plan for the hospital is to provide colonoscopy exams for bowel cancer patients, before extending to the diagnosis and treatment of other cancers.


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