New Zealand Cancer Freediver

[CancerDiverNz]

Hey Everybody, This weekend i did my first freedive Comp in Wellington N Z.
I must say i had more nerve's than there is spaghetti in Italy , Trust me, i was shaking
Well I did not break any world records ( as i only started in may this year ) but i tried, My static was 1min 40 sec's and my Dymanic with fin was 57 mtrs. Nothing to get excited about i know. But 2 weeks after i started doing this i got told i have Lung Cancer ( SECONDARY CANCER (Metastatic Melanoma)) I have 6 little bugga's in my lung's slowly doing what they do, but i do beleive i have the bug for Freediving, so as long as my Dr say's im good to go, Im going to go.
There is a couple of People that has helped with this wonderful sport, Kerian Hibbs ( my Brother in law ) and my Sister , Joy Cottle , they have helped me with the best teaching i could ever get, and they have been an amazing support with my condition, The other person that has helped me and supported in my sweet Broni, she is my inspiration ,
Yes im off to the World's with my brother in law as his coach and support person,I can not wait to see an amazing event and see Kerian Kick some Booty.
To everybody that I meet at the Comp in wellington, I was so overwhelmed
with all of there kind word's and there support, the made Bron and I feel so welcome and part of there Large Family .
Thank you all so so much , and i can not wait to meet you all again

For all that is interested here is the link to my blog which is about all the things i have been doing, and what i will be doing, and where i try to bring awareness of Melanoma
The Great NZ cover Up

 

[Salehthefish]

Hello my friend and welcome along DB family good to know that you do enjoy freediving i have bronchites and still i am ambitious to do better it is nice there underwater i will not skip a chance to go underneeth Keep it up and get well soon

All best

 

[trux]

Welcome to DB, Darrel! We just spoke about you in this thread: http://forums.deeperblue.com/pacifi...-freediver-competing-despite-lung-cancer.html - I am sorry for trashing your case in public, but your courage is rather unusual, so I think it is good to show it to others too.

Keep up; and wishing all best; may freediving kill the beast,
Ivo

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Hey Thank you, This is a wicked and inspirational site, thank you so much for your kind thought's. I hope you get better very soon, but as for me , I am dying from this, Good luck to you and here is my blog if your interested

The Great NZ cover Up
Take care and enjoy the water

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Hey thanks dude, just get the message out about the killer cancer and how people are so scared to get checked, more people read it the better, thanks for your support,

 

[samdive]

great to "Meet" you - have left a post on your blog. thanks for sharing your story and please continue to do so!

 

[chrismar]

Enjoy the world trip and I'll catch ya in Aarhus. I'm looking forward to hearing your stories

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Cheers Chris , Hopefully by then i'll have a few good stories to tell, Train well and we catch up there

 

[jay cluskey]

darrell welcome.
you are an inspiration to many people hope you enjoy denmark and all that you continue to do.

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Thanks jay, I'll do my best to enjoy Demark, ( i do not think that will be hard to do)
Are you going to be there.??

Good luck in your goals

 

[jay cluskey]

not good enough yet bud.. wish i could of gone though
i ve goy my first depth comp this weekend
ill keep you posted

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Awesome do that please, I am so interested on how people do in this amazing sport.

Good luck and dive safe

 

[Donna]

Welcome to DB, your blog is inspirational. Well done on the comp, may there be many more to come

Keep up the fantastic work you are doing and I look forward to following your adventures along the way.

Donna x

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Thank you so much, I'll do my best to keep my adventures interesting, Thank yo for your kind word's and thought's

 

[agbiv]

Welcome from Texas! I'll add you to my prayer list for healing, recovery and patience.

 

[jay cluskey]

hey darrell i came sixth . i am happy with my performances and itching to go again.
i am going to enter as many comps as i can now.
hope things are going ok and there are a few more ticks on that list mate speak soon .jay

 

[CancerDiverNz]

Thank You so much , i appreciate it ,

 

[BennyB]

G'day Darrell,

Thanks so much for sharing your story and experiences with us, it's a great thing to raise awareness, particularly in our chosen pastime which has us out in the sun so much. One thing I believe you mentioned somewhere and what I think is so important for us is the issue of sun exposure on the hands. As freedivers we tend to be covered head to foot in neoprene all the time, but our hands are exposed a lot, and this is particularly pertinent if you dive using a buoy as your hands are exposed to the sun much much more than normal. Something for us to think about everytime we hit the ocean.

I look forward to hearing more of your stories soon, I might actually meet your sister in a couple of weeks if she's in Sydney for the comp there. Have a great time in Aaahus, but don't be too good a coach, you kiwi freedivers can't be getting too good

Cheers from across the pond,
Ben