'I thought we would grow old together' - Smear Your Mea campaign founder Talei Morrison farewelled by hundreds at Rotorua marae

June 20, 2018

More than 500 people attended her funeral at Rotorua's Te Papa-i-Ouru marae today.

Smear your Mea campaign founder Talei Morrison has had her final send off in Rotorua today but her friends say her legacy will continue to live on.

Ms Morrison, 42, died on Saturday after a nine-month battle with cervical cancer.

More than 500 people attended her funeral at Te Papa-i-Ouru marae.

Tiria Waitai spoke at the funeral today saying her friend's legacy will live on. 

"To my friend, my sister, Talei, I never conceived the day would come where I'd have to say goodbye. I thought we would grow old together.

But for now, your work is done. You can rest in peace and in love knowing that your legacy will live on." Ms Waitai said. 

In a video uploaded to YouTube, Ms Morrison revealed when she had received news that her cancer had spread.

"It is now in the glands of my stomach, between my heart and my back, in my collar bone and around my kidneys. Both my radiation doctor and my chemotherapy doctor agree that there is no more that conventional medicine can do.

"However, my family and I and my close friends are determined to progress forward in a positive manner."

Ms Morrison's hashtag, Smear Your Mea - or 'thing' in Māori - was spread as a message to all Kiwi women.

"It is an intimate, intrusive procedure. It's scary. And here we have the attitude of 'she'll be right'," Ms Morrison said back in January.

In New Zealand, about 160 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, and around 50 of those will die. 

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