Jumping for a good cause
It was the thought of all the whanau that receive a diagnosis of cancer that gave Miraka Norgate the strength she needed to jump out of a plane - at 16,500 feet.
Miraka Norgate is a member of the Te Waka Hauora Maori Health and Vulnerable Populations team and works as a Health Promoter for Population Health Services.
She did the sky jump, along with 35 others, to raise money for cancer. The jump was delayed three times due to bad weather but finally happened on 10am Sunday morning, 10 September.
Miraka went to church and says she prayed hard to the almighty to ensure her jump was successful.
“My poor husband was beside himself, but the jump was exhilarating and for a good cause,” she said. “Once the door was open to jump, there was no going back.”
The first 200 feet or so were a free-dive and Miraka says she was ‘flipping and flopping’ and amidst this turmoil she thought ‘where, what and who do I speak too?’
“Once the parachute was pulled, I felt security in knowing that I could start to look around and enjoy the view,” she says.
She equates this to the feeling whanau have when they are in remission or have some space before the next treatment.
“When my feet hit Papatuanuku I thought ‘wow, I’m back on my feet, I can now enjoy what I have around me’, and I thought of what our whanau have to enjoy with what time they have left.”
Miraka raised $2041.00 for the Nelson Cancer Society. The total amount raised for our district was $25,907.