Awards celebrate those who battle to breathe

Awards celebrate those who battle to breathe

“We breathe every second of every day. Some people are in a constant battle but they put all that aside and achieve beyond expectation. They don't use their condition as an excuse but as a motivator to achieve even more,” comments previous Awards winner Vaughan Sommerville.

The tough challenges of living day-to-day with asthma and other respiratory conditions will come into sharp focus at the national Respiratory Achievers Awards. The ceremony will be held at Te Papa in Wellington on 15 April 2016 and nominations are open until 29 February 2016.

The Awards celebrate and honour Kiwis achieving great things despite having a respiratory condition. “Nominating someone is a fantastic opportunity to give credit to those around you, who despite having a respiratory condition live a normal life and surpass all societal expectations,” says Vaughan Sommerville.

Previous achievers come from all walks of life and their stories are all inspirational. They include:
• Vaughan Somerville (Auckland), a previous Coby Forbes Award winner who has cystic fibrosis and has completed a Bachelor of Medical Science and is now working towards his PhD;
• Tomairangi Pihema-Brown (Gisborne) who spent 10 weeks in rehabilitation after suffering a brain injury from a massive asthma attack, recovered and competed in the Waka Ama (outrigger canoeing) Nationals in January 2015;
• Jo Turner (Auckland) who has run over 100 marathons after joining a marathon club to manage her asthma;
• Carol Cooper-Taylor (Dargaville) who is the driving force of the book ‘Don’t Forget to Breathe’, a free downloadable resource about managing COPD.

“I’m truly inspired by those with asthma and respiratory conditions who don’t let their health stop them from achieving their goals. We want everyone to nominate friends, family or colleagues who are eligible” said John Wills, Chief Executive of The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation.

The Award categories are:
• Asthma 5 to 12 years old
• Asthma 13 to 18 years old
• Asthma adult
• COPD
• Other respiratory conditions (including cystic fibrosis, bronchiolitis and bronchiectasis)
All nominations will also be eligible for the Cody Forbes Award.

Cody Forbes Award for courage
The Cody Forbes Award is named after a wonderful boy from Turangi who had cystic fibrosis. Cody received an Achievers Award in 2005 and passed away in May 2007, shortly after his 16th birthday. Cody’s grace, strength of spirit, humour, and deep love for his whanau touched everyone who met him.

The Respiratory Achievers Awards 2016 will be held in conjunction with the Respiratory Media Awards 2016, which reward excellence in health journalism.

ENDS

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