A Christchurch woman who advocated for the public funding of lifesaving cancer drugs has died aged 45.
Vickie Hudson-Craig was diagnosed with melanoma in 2013 and often spoke publicly about the challenges her family faced.
She and her husband, Ryan, organised the Heart Surf event at Sumner Beach in 2024 to help pay for her treatment. About 50 surfers turned out in support, taking turns surfing over 36 hours.
About $100,000 was raised to help pay for the unfunded drugs, dabrafenib and trametinib, which were costing Hudson-Craig $5500 a month.
The drugs were only affordable for the family through fundraising efforts and Hudson-Craig said she had considered moving overseas to a country where the drugs were funded.
Four tumours had been found on her heart in 2020 and she started being treated for stage four melanoma.
She was outspoken in her criticism of the Government when 13 cancer drugs were not funded in the 2024 Budget, despite a promise from the National Party during the election campaign to fund them.
“The injustice that you can make promises like that and then break them with total disregard for life is, I think, what upsets me the most,” said Hudson-Craig.
“To have that hope just wiped away is just devastating.”
Some of the drugs, including dabrafenib and trametinib, did receive funding from Pharmac in May last year.
Hudson-Craig was a lawyer and also joined Coastguard Sumner a decade ago as part of the boat crew and later as a board member.
Said Coastguard Sumner in a statement: “Vickie was inspirational”.
“She never let her illness get in the way of making a contribution and she maintained a positive attitude to the last. Our love and support go out to her family.”
Hudson-Craig moved to Christchurch in 2015 from the United Kingdom and met Ryan. They had a daughter, Ruby, two years later.
In a 2024 Daily Mail interview, she said “the future is so uncertain, and one thing that breaks my heart the most is knowing she will grow up without me”.
Hudson-Craig died on March 13.